Pulling the Cow’s Horns and Expecting Milk

There is a quiet confusion at the heart of how we relate to effort, expectation, and reward.

We often believe that wanting something badly enough should make it appear. That our anger, greed, hope, or disappointment somehow influences the outcome. But reality is far less sentimental and far more precise.

If you pull a cow’s horns, no milk will come out.
Not because you lacked faith.
Not because you expected too much.
Simply because horns do not produce milk.

Yet this is where most suffering begins.

When the Action Is Wrong

If you pull the cow’s horns expecting milk, you will get none.
Becoming upset at this point is like getting angry at the rain for being wet.
The failure is not personal. The method is wrong.

If you pull the cow’s horns without expecting milk, you will still get none.
Expectation or no expectation changes nothing.
Horns remain horns.

Here, desire and disappointment are irrelevant.
Reality does not negotiate.

When the Action Is Right

Now consider a different action.

If you pull the cow’s udders expecting milk, milk will flow.
But becoming excited, proud, or attached to the expectation is again like being caught in the rain and blaming the clouds.
The milk came not because you expected it, but because the cause was correct.

If you pull the cow’s udders without expecting milk, milk will still flow.
Blaming the cow, praising yourself, or building a story around the outcome is still getting caught in the rain.
The result was never about you.

The Deeper Point

Expectation does not create results.
Anger does not block them.
Greed does not improve them.

Only causes aligned with reality produce outcomes.

Most frustration in life comes from pulling horns while negotiating with the sky.

We argue with outcomes.
We blame effort.
We spiritualize disappointment.
We romanticize success.

But the universe is embarrassingly practical.

Milk comes from udders.
Rain falls from clouds.
Results follow causes.

Freedom from the Rain

Wisdom is not about suppressing expectation or manufacturing detachment.
It is about understanding where milk actually comes from.

Once you see that clearly:

• You stop blaming yourself for outcomes that never had a chance.
• You stop glorifying yourself for outcomes that were inevitable.
• You stop fighting the rain.

You act correctly, without drama.
You receive results, without attachment.
And when nothing comes, you understand why.

Not everything is personal.
Not everything is deserved.
And not everything is meant to yield milk.

The suffering begins when we forget that.