A relationship lesson from plants

There were two independent houses separated by a compound wall.

In one lived a young guy and in another an elderly, retired man.

Both of them planted identical saplings on their respective side of the compound wall.

The young guy supplied his plant with a lot of water and high quality manure.

The retired man however gave his plant just a small quantity of water and little manure.

The young guy sapling grew into a lush green, leafy, robust plant.

The retired persons plant was near normal but much luxuriant than his neighbor's.

One night there was a heavy rain with gusty winds and the next morning both came to see the fate of their plants.

To the young guy’s surprise his plants had been uprooted where as his neighbor's was unharmed.

The young guy turns to the neighbor and asked, “Why was my plant uprooted by the rains despite such good care where as yours stayed firmed and strong despite just a little care?”

The neighbor answered, “Look young man! You supplied everything the plant would need, in abundance. Since the plant did not have to do anything on its own to search for what it needed, the roots of your plants haven’t gone deep down. I was supplying my plants just enough to keep it alive. For the rest, the roots have no choice but to go deep down into the ground to fulfill its needs. Since the roots of your plants were superficial the rain and wind could easily fell it down. Since the roots of my plant were deeply grounded it could easily withstand this onslaught of nature.”

Isn’t the story similar to the way we deal with our children, with our youngsters?

Sometimes we can be so possessive and over protective of them.

We can end up caring for them to the extent of pampering them, not giving them their space, the facility, the opportunity and the impetus to grow by taking responsibility.

On the other hand, if we just leave them to themselves without proper support and help they may end up making wrong decisions due to lack of maturity.

Caring for our children is exactly like caring for a plant. Under doing it will make the plant die but over doing will make the plant weak.

It is the right balance that will make our children grow luxuriantly and bear flowers and fruits in the form of experience, wisdom and maturity.

Comments

The King and his Four wives...

Once upon a time there was a king who had four wives. He loved all of them but the fourth wife was the one that he adored the most. He provided her with the best things and always adorned her with the finest delicacies. His third wife was very beautiful and he loved to show her off to neighboring kingdoms. The second wife was very kind, patient and considerate. Whenever the king faced some problems with decision he would go to her and she would help him get through that decision. The first wife was a very loyal partner and made contribution in maintaining Kings Health and wealth but the king was very ignorant towards her. He hardly took notice of her. One day the king fell ill and he realized that he is going to die soon. He thought, “I now have four wives with me, but when I die I’ll be alone.” He called his fourth wife and asked, “I loved you most, I provided you most of the things you asked. When I die, will you follow me to keep me compan...

Stop Hatred

A school teacher noticed that her class was increasingly becoming a disjointed one. Quarrels and fights were increasing by the day. There was no team work. The students had stopped playing and working with the same fervor and spirit. Mutual dislike and hatred was palpable in the air. To put an end to this, she decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each student in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the student hates, so the number of potatoes that a student puts in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she hates. So, when the day came, every student brought some potatoes with the names of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3 while some up to 5 potatoes. The teacher then told the children to carry with them the potatoes in the plastic bag wherever they go (even to the toilet) for 1 week. Day after day passed by, and the childre...

Be Happy with what You have...!!

Once a sage was passing through the capital city of the famous king. While he was walking, he noticed a single currency coin on the road. He picked it up. He was satisfied with his simple living and he had no use of that coin. So, he planned to donate it to the one who is in need of it. He strolled around the streets throughout the day but didn’t find anyone such. Finally, he reached the rest area and spent a night there. Next morning, he wakes up for his daily activities and sees that the king is going for his invasion of another state with his war ready army. When the king saw the sage standing, he ordered his army to be stopped. He came to the sage and said, “Oh great sage, I am going to war to win another state so that my state can be expanded. So bless me to be victorious.” After thinking, sage gave a single currency coin to the king! T he king was confused and annoyed with this because what use he has for a single coin while he ...

Search This Blog