Have you heard of the Chinese bamboo
tree?
Like other plants, it requires nurturing – water, fertile soil, good
doze of sunshine. While the farmer invests all of those, the Chinese bamboo
tree shows no visible sign of growth in its first year.
One would expect that while it takes most
plants three to five days to sprout above the soil, twelve months should be
enough for the Chinese bamboo to give the farmer some good sign.
Instead of germinating in its first year, the
tree requires the farmer to keep at his nurturing duties. This goes on into the
second, third, fourth and even some part of the fifth year; when suddenly, the Chinese
bamboo tree shoots between eighty to ninety solid feet high in the air, in just
six weeks.
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| Photo Courtesy: Steemit |
Hmmmmm
Did the growth
really occur in six weeks? No.
Rather, Five years
of labour without visible results equaled six weeks of “sudden” growth.
What
if the farmer gave up?
What if he sold the
land in conviction that the seeds didn’t germinate due to a curse cast on the
land by his ancestors? I mean, if you’ve done all that is required of you and a
land still doesn’t yield her increase, won’t you think something was wrong with
the land?
What If the farmer
felt something was wrong with his seeds? He would go purchase another from a
different dealer, only to get the same results.
How
have you treated your Chinese bamboo?
Your Chinese bamboo
could be a dream, a vision, a ministry, a business or a simple instruction God
laid in your heart. How long have you been nurturing it?
It’s normal to feel
like something is wrong with the land
where you’ve sown- the environment, the relationships you’ve invested in, the
policies guiding the sector etc.
It’s also normal to
think something is wrong with your seeds- my calling isn’t the reigning one,
nobody accepts it, others don’t understand it etc
It’s normal to
question your abilities – I’m not applying the manure properly, I’m not trained
enough, I’m not knowledgeable enough, etc.
While these
thoughts are normal in the face of empty barns, it is abnormal to abandon your
dream, vision, assignment, mandate, business, ministry or what have you because
you think any of the above “normal” thoughts.
The next time you
are tempted to switch base, trade your calling for another person’s or abandon
your vision, remember that great rewards take long to arrive while outstanding
rewards take longer to arrive.
You can have your
great reward today and pass on your outstanding reward, or wait today for your
outstanding reward and pass on the great reward.
Beyond choice, the one quality that determines if people pass on great rewards and go
on till outstanding reward arrives, is consistency.
What
is consistency?
To be consistent is
to act the same way or do something overtime. Consistency is therefore the
quality or condition of being consistent (Collins Dictionary).
I believe that
consistency is the degree of firmness in character. It refers to harmony
between one’s thoughts, speeches, beliefs and actions.
Consistency is a
character issue. Like most character issue it can only be imbibed through practice.
Many people decide
on consistency every new year but they soon slack back into their old ways because
they don’t understand the dynamics of consistency.
To
be continued
Committed to Your Fulfilment
Anne Atulaegwu
Need some fresh doze of energy to live fulfilled?
Check out my newest book here
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