Equanimity

There´s an old story that illustrates the wisdom of this state of mind.
A farmer´s most valuable asset is the one horse he owns. One day it runs away. All the townpeople commiserate with him, "Oh, what terrible luck! You´ve fallen into poverty now, with no way to pull the plow or move your goods!"
The farmer merely responds, "I don´t know if it´s unfortunate or not, all I know is that my horse is gone."
A few days later, the horse returns, and following it are six more horses, both stallions and mares. The townspeople say, "Oh! You´ve struck it rich! Now you have seven horses to your name!" Again, the farmer says, "I don´t know if I´m fortunate or not, all that I can say is that I now have seven horses in my stable."
A few days later, while the farmer´s son trying to break in one of the wild stallions, he´s thrownm from the horse and breaks his leg and shoulder. All the townspeople bemoan his fate: "Oh, how terrible! Your son has been so badly injured, he´ll not be able to help you with the harvest. What a missfortune!"
The farmer responds, " I don´t know if it´s a missfortune or not, what I know is that my son has been injured."
Less than a week later, the army sweeps through town, conscripting all the young men to fight in a war...all except for the farmer´s son, who is unable to fight because of his injury.
The fact is you can´t know what changes your life will bring or what the ultimate consequences will be. Equanimity allows for the mystery of things: the unknowable, uncontrollable nature of things to be just as they are. In this radical acceptance lies peace and freedom - right there in the midst of whatever pleasant or unpleasant circumstances we find ourselves in. When we open to the truth that there is actually very little we can control other than our own reactions to circumstances, we learn to let go.
Cultivating the qualities of kindness, compassion, and joy opens your heart to others. Equanimity balances the giving of your heart´s love with the recognition and acceptance that things are the way they are.
However much you may care for someone, however much you may do for others, however much you would like to control things or you wish that they were other than they are, equanimity reminds you that all beings everywhere are responsible for their own actions, and for the consequences of their actions.
Without this recognition, it´s easy to fall into compassion fatigue, helperburnout, and even despair. Equanimity allows you to open your heart and offer love, kindness, compassion, and rejoicing, while letting go of your expectations and attachments to result.