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15 October 2013

Personal growth and Chinese Bamboo Tree...

I love the story of Chinese Bamboo Tree....

You plant a seed and water that year after year. Nothing happens. It is as if the seed has decided to stay under the earth and not to come out and grow.

You persist.

You water it for one year, nothing

Second year, nothing still

Third and fourth year, still nada

And towards the end of fifth year, when you have all but given up, something amazing happens.

In about a time span of six weeks, the Chinese Bamboo Tree grows up to an astonishing height of 90 Feet, that is a growth of about 2 feet per day.

The five years spent under the earth was preparation for this rapid growth.

Amazing, isn't it?

I am fascinated by this story at multiple levels.

This is very similar to what happens in life. Some people are like the Bamboo Tree. Their potential remain hidden for a long time...

and then?

Wham !!!

They suddenly externalize their hidden potential. They perform extraordinary tasks. They write their books, they start their businesses...

They spent a long time hidden from the world and then over a short period of time they grow up explosively.

They are the 'late bloomers'. Einstein was one of them.

This story also means that you should plant the seeds of growth. They are called dreams. Once you have your dreams, keep adding love, affection and hope to nurture the dreams. Don't give up. Keep hoping, keep trying...

You cannot expect to achieve stuff if you do not plant the seed. And water them regularly.

You have to start dreaming. You have to start wanting something. Keep it totally focused.

Someone said, 'People always live their lives running away from what they fear. Instead they should run towards what they want'.

If you have your dreams and keep watering them you will achieve your dreams. That is for sure.

But....

Here is the thought...

What if you do not have any dreams?

There are many people who live their lives without a dream, a goal or a destination. They don't know what they want. They simply get up in the morning, go to work or whatever, come back and plop on the bed feeling what John Izzo mentions as 'Bad Tired'. The life is lived as a ritual, doing the same stuff over and over, without thinking, without reflecting, without planning....

There is not goal, no destination...

There is no seed, there is no bamboo tree.

These people may have dreams, but they fail to nurture them thereby letting them decay. 

Even scarier are those people who has very good dreams, healthy seeds, but they suppress them. They suppress their natural tendency to grow and prosper. They are aware of their potential but are not confident of following through with their potential. Their dreams are small and easily attainable. They create 'Bonsai Bamboos'. Their bamboo tree grows just tall enough. They do not have the confidence to back up their dreams. They do not respect themselves strongly enough to take themselves seriously. They suppress their growth. 

That is scary, isn't it? That you have the potential and you decide that you do not have potential. You do not have faith on your dreams, on your abilities to achieve your dreams. 

It is scary. 

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