(S0103) Remember, it could have been worse.
One day Lord Buddha was confronted by a bandit who demanded a ransom. When Buddha said he owned no possessions, the bandit was angry and warned, "Then I will cut off your hand." Buddha calmly replied, "I’m glad that I will still be able to walk."
Then the bandit threatened, "In that case I will cut off your legs." Buddha once again answered calmly, "Well, I’m glad that you will not kill me." The bandit, of course, replied, "Then I will kill you!" In response to this Buddha said with glee "Oh, in that case, I will be so happy and thankful that you have removed me from the miseries of this world." The bandit became one of Buddha’s disciples.
Just as the Buddha could always see a positive outcome, it is not uncommon to hear people who have been in an accident say, "We are lucky. It could have been much worse." It’s good to consider that there are always situations that are worse than the one we are in and that there are people who are worse off than we are. If we realize this we will have yet another way to console ourselves from sadness and prevent depression.