Do you know what your dream has to do with a special Chinese bamboo?
Let me invite you into a little story. Imagine there is a seed that is planted in the ground. For the next four years, this seed needs to be watered and fertilized. The challenge is that there aren’t many signs of growth during this period. Only a small peak can be seen sticking out of the ground.
Imagine you are the gardener and someone comes your way. “Well, what are you doing there?” “I’ll take care of my bamboo.” The other looks at you with raised eyebrows. “Okay, you don’t see much yet. How long have you been doing this?” “For about 4 years”… Now your counterpart would probably almost fall over laughing. “You’ve been watering and fertilizing this tiny thing for four years and this is the result?” Shaking his head, the other then would leave your garden. My question is – are you still going on? Because in the fifth year the bamboo suddenly shoots up over 25 meters into the air! However, that wouldn’t happen if you stopped watering and fertilizing during those first four years.
Now we come to your dream. Do you always cherish and maintain this, no matter what the others say and think? Or do you give up at the first headwind?
What I have experienced and learned in recent years can be broken down into three lessons so that you can continue to patiently stay on track.
The first lesson is patience. Chinese bamboo takes four long years before any visible growth begins. That’s an incredibly long time to wait without seeing a result. That also applies to many dreams. We must be patient and accept that there may be times when we do not see immediate results or progress toward our goals. But if we keep watering and fertilizing our dreams like a Chinese bamboo, then eventually something beautiful will sprout from them.
The second lesson is consistency. Like everything in life, success requires persistence and dedication. We must persevere, even in times when things are progressing slowly or not at all. This means that we must hold on to the things that bring us closer to our goal, such as daily practice or perseverance – just like water and fertilizer for the Chinese bamboo plant.
The third lesson is faith. While we don’t always see immediate, tangible signs of growth in our lives, that doesn’t mean nothing is happening beneath the surface. We have to trust that if we persist in our efforts, something beautiful will eventually come out of it – just like Chinese bamboo, which forms a gigantic root system underground to then guarantee the desired growth in one fell swoop.
The story of the Chinese bamboo teaches us three valuable lessons about pursuing our dreams: patience, perseverance, and trust. No matter how long it takes to reach our goal, we must remember that great things come from consistent effort over a long period of time. So, let’s continue to water and fertilize all our dreams with patience and faith.
