There was a poor widow who had two sons. This widow's livelihood depended entirely upon her sons' meager little businesses because she was so weak and frail. Every day she worried about their businesses. She fretted and hoped that they would do well.
One son sold umbrellas. So the mother would waken in the morning and the first thing she would look to see was if the sun was shining or if it looked like rain. If it was dark and cloudy she would gleefully say, "Oh, he will surely sell umbrellas today!" But if the sun was shining, she would be miserable all day, because she feared that nobody would buy her son's umbrellas.
The widow's other son sold fans. Every morning the poor widow would arise and look to the skies. If the sun was hidden and it looked like a rainy day, she would get very depressed and moan, "Nobody's going to buy my son's fans today."
No matter what the weather was , this poor old widow had something to fret about. If the sun was shining, she felt terrible because nobody would buy her son's umbrellas. If the sun was not shining and it was cloudy, she also felt terrible, because nobody would buy her other son's fans. With such an attitude she was bound to lose.
One day she ran into a friend who said, "Why, you've got it all wrong, my dear. There's no way you can lose. If the sun is shining, people will buy fans; if it rains, they'll buy umbrellas. You live off both of your sons. You cannot lose!"
When that simple, obvious consciousness gripped her mood, she changed. From then on, she was happy woman the rest of her life.
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