Baby Steps

Whenever I looked at this photo of my niece, it could capture something inside me, not only because of the adorability of this child but her enthusiasm when she made a little step forward as if it was her biggest achievement without caring how many steps she has to do to get closer to the person she's chasing after. What even wonderful about this picture was her undoubted trust to the one who's guiding her. She might stumble from her instability but she didn't care because her faith to the person holding her was greater than her vulnerability.

Sometimes, we have to adapt this kind of attitude especially when we are starting to work on our goals. We have to value the importance of baby steps, it might seems stagnant or it might taking too long towards your goal but trusting the process and putting patience on the little progress will eventually yield the fruits we have been wanting.

"to climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first."

-William Shakespeare

Many people nowadays, most especially the youngsters, tend to be short-tempered about the process. Probably because we are living in the phase of the world today wherein everything is set in shortcuts. We want quick results, and so when things get tedious and difficult, we dropped them off and change our plans instantly and constantly until we have not get things done. Little did we know that this impetuous attitude could actually consumes greater times and put efforts into waste, then we see no results at all.

One of the incredible stories I have heard was the story of a Chinese Bamboo tree, which goes like this:

A man got frustrated with life. Despite all the hard work and effort, failure was all that he learnt. Feeling defeated with life, he left everything and exiled himself in the woods. There he met a Hermit. The disappointed man shared is failure with the hermit. “Give me one good reason not to quit?”- He pleaded the Hermit

“Look”, the hermit said, pointing towards two plants. “Do you see that fern and bamboo there?
“Yes”, the man nodded.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them water, light and fertilizer. Within a short period of time the fern quickly grew from the earth”, the hermit continued.

“But despite the Bamboo seed being watered and nurtured for years, it did not outwardly grow as much as an inch. In fact, nothing at all happened in the first year. There was no sign of growth. But, I did not give up on the Bamboo seed and continued to water and nurture it. By the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.”

The hermit explained, "the little tree was growing underground, developing a root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth in the fifth year and beyond. Had the tree not developed a strong foundation, it would not have sustained its life as it grew.”

“Did you know that all the time you had been struggling, you were growing strong roots”, remarked the hermit

http://alltimeshortstories.com/motivational-the-bamboo-tree/

Taking the step forward might be difficult in the beginning and often times, despite of our eagerness and hardworks, success might seem impossible and invisible. But like a child, who eventually learned how to walk, started from a small, slow, and unsteady steps. And just like a bamboo tree which took several years before a little sprout appear, who would have expected that after a long years it would grew tremendously in just a span of six months? So, we just need to learn how to trust the process and be enthusiastic with the little progress.

Whoever is patient has great understanding,but one who is quick-tempered displays folly. - Proverbs 14:29

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. - Romans 12:12