I rarely open email forwards, and even more frequently delete them if the sender doesn’t add a little note at the beginning to explain just why they were compelled to send the thing along.

But I happened to open the one pasted below. And it’s bizarre, because I’d just been thinking about how it’s our fifth year in business. How 80% of businesses supposedly fail in the first year, and 80% of the remainder fail within five years, and if we make it through this year, we’ll have beaten some pretty incredible odds.

Not to mention how tough it got in the latter half of 2006, when the option of “quitting” started to look attractive for a little while there.

That said, here’s a little Mood Booster for you, and for those of you who aren’t comfortable with use of “God,” do like Julia Cameron of Artist’s Way fame advises, and treat it as an acronym for “Good Orderly Direction,” a nameless force in the universe that is constantly looking for opportunities to help you on your journey:

The Fern and the Bamboo

One day I decided to quit…. I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality… I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

“God”, I said. “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”

His answer surprised me.

“Look around,” He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

“In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.”

He said, “In the third year, there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.

“In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.”

He said. “Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant.

“But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”

He said to me, “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots. I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you. Don’t compare yourself to others.”

He said, “The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern, yet, they both make the forest beautiful.

“Your time will come,” God said to me. “You will rise high!”

“How high should I rise?” I asked.

“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can?” I questioned.

“Yes.” He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I left the forest and brought back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

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Posted in Lessons Learned, Mood Boosters, Storytelling |

This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Lessons Learned, Mood Boosters, Storytelling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.