Your Bamboo Story

One day a man planted a bamboo seedling. He cared deeply for it, so each day he watered it and tended to it, always making sure it had the proper sunlight to grow.

After a year’s time, the man saw that the plant had not grown at all, but he continued to water it, tend to it, and make sure it was nourished by proper sunlight.

Again, after the second year the plant had not grown. He watered and tended it through the third year and the fourth. Suddenly, as if by magic, in the fifth it began growing. In fact, it grew two and a half feet a day until in six weeks it was ninety feet tall.

Many of the things you start in your life – relationships, businesses, new endeavors, new projects, are all bamboo plants. Often those who succeed incredibly are not smarter than anyone else – they just kept on when all the others left.

Calvin Coolidge said, “Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; un-rewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.”

In our instant gratification world, waiting and persevering are rare indeed. What will YOUR life look like in five years? Want to plant a bamboo plant today? Do it! Then steel yourself for the long haul and don't give up. Practice perseverance and reap the rewards. Good luck!