Growth Takes Patience and Perseverance
We all need to be reminded that outward progress doesn’t necessarily reflect or measure inward progress. Zig Ziglar tells the story of the Chinese Bamboo Tree.
“When this particular seed of the Chinese Bamboo tree is planted, watered and nurtured, for years it doesn’t outwardly grow as much as an inch.
Nothing happens for the first year. There’s no sign of growth. Not even a hint.
The same thing happens – or doesn’t happen – the second year. And then the third year.
The tree is carefully watered and fertilized each year, but nothing shows. No growth. No anything. So it goes as the sun rises and sets for four solid years. The farmer and his wife have nothing tangible to show for this labor or effort.
Then, along comes year five. After five years of fertilizing and watering have passed, with nothing to show for it – the bamboo tree suddenly sprouts and grows eighty feet in just SIX WEEKS!
Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fifth?
Or, was the little tree growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond? The answer is, of course, obvious. Had the tree not developed a strong unseen foundation it could not have sustained its life as it grew.”
Your dreams, no matter how big, are not in vain. Just because you don’t see signs of progress now, do not grow weary in continuing to build, to give it everything you have heart and soul.
Even though overly critical friends remind you of how much easier it would be to give up, be more realistic, more practical, or find a new passion…choose to believe that growth is happening underground. A root system is being formed within your life, the kind of roots will outlast storms because of the hard work and commitment it’s taken to stand in faith for something it cannot easily prove or qualify.
l let us continue to nurture and develop our roots and foundations as every step or minute of effort makes a difference and every step you take makes an impact. You may not see the change right away, but growth is happening. With commitment and drive to attain our goals, and with God’s help we can surely reach our dreams.
“The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, toiled ever upward through the night.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Growth Takes Patience and Perseverance”
Some people resemble desert grass in springtime they flourish overnight. Mozart
composed his first symphony when he was eight years old.
But others. you included perhaps, belongs to another group that require many years of preparation before they tap their potential
Do not lose hope. These people resemble Leonardo da Vinci who painted the Mona Lisa when he was 50 years old, or Clara Barton who founded the American Red Cross when she was59. George Bernard Shaw wrote his famous drama, Saint Joan, when he was 67. Cervantes completed Don Quixote when he was almost 70. Will Durant sold a series of television programs when he was in his 90.s. And who knows, maybe you’ll complete your greatest achievement when you.re 100!