I actually think getting a “weird” response from the audience is not such a bad thing.

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In fact, I’d love to get one of those soon. Angry, irritated, threatening, nasty, it doesn’t matter. A non-constructive hate-filled response is all I’m asking. Since I have no control over this, I can’t promise you when I will get one. But when I receive one, I look forward to sharing it with you! Hahaha! Here is my reason why…

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But, before we go on, I’d like to share a cool Chinese parable I read from Wellness Wisdom by Patricia:

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A farmer owned a horse. One day, the horse ran away. The neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away! What terrible luck!”The farmer replied, “Maybe. We will see.”

A few days later, the horse returned bringing with it a pack of wild horses. The neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse returned and brought several horses home with him! What great luck!”The farmer replied, “Maybe. We will see.”

A week later, the farmer’s son was attempting to tame the wild horses and a horse kicked him, breaking the son’s leg. The neighbors exclaimed, “Your son broke his leg! What terrible luck!”The farmer replied, “Maybe. We will see.”

A few weeks later, soldiers marched through town recruiting all of the young men for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son since he only had one working leg. The neighbors exclaimed, “Your boy was spared. What great luck!”The farmer replied, “Maybe. We will see.”

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How was it? Did you like it? It didn’t have much impact on me to tell you the truth. “Uh-huh, we’ll see,” and I went back to read other emails. Then a few days later, when I read Not Boring newsletter by Packy, the story came back to me.

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You see, Packy had a hater, threatening him to unsubscribe from his newsletter because it’s too long. I was like “WTF?!”

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As you read, the parable was about a string of unrelated events bringing along both good and bad outcomes. Through the pendulum of fortune, we were guided to reflect upon the shades of grey in our lives.

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In the case of Not Boring, it was growing its subscriber like crazy and that could’ve attracted the attention of the hater. It’s unfortunate on the surface. But maybe the hate response was a leading indicator of more success on its way. His initial subscriber growth goal was 5000 subscribers by the end of July but he already cleared the goal in June. Now he has a new target of 10,000 subscribers by the end of summer. We will see.

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This is my guess, but since his newsletter’s core thread is analyzing and creating business strategies through lenses of pop culture, I’m assuming that the readers are affluent folks. They are citizens of the world of abundant capital. But one thing they don’t have enough is time. Packy’s newsletter is very extensive. Keeping readers' attention for a long time takes some serious effort on his part. And because he has done it so well to make it memorable to his readers, he even gets remembered by a hater.

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We live in an attention-driven economy. Our lives and sanity depend on being recognized and adored above all else. But unlike money, we can’t store and multiply our time and attention. We forget. Data get lost. We get interrupted all the time. It’s so hard to get attention and hold on to it. But if you can pull off the heroic task so well that you get remembered and even hated for, you are crushing it.

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Sure, not all serendipities are wonderful. Yet, even hate has its proper place in the journey called life. Yes, the hate response could get ugly, but it could be a leading indicator of you doing something right. It’s a strong and strange confirmation of powerful force on its way to you.