Two trees on a stormy night

This is a story of two mango trees that stood side by side for a long time. The story began when a farmer decided to sow two mango seeds in the corner of his farm. Since the time he sowed the seeds, he took great care to water them and provide adequate fertilisers to help them grow. Soon the seeds sprouted and were small plants. The care they received continued till they were young trees. Now, they are a couple of years old and a couple of storeys high.

As always they continued to receive care and attention from the farmer, who felt really happy to see the trees grow. All was going well until one day something happened that was to shape the destiny of the trees. The roots of the trees hit a rock in the ground below. "We have hit a rock", said one tree to the other, "Now what will we do? We are doomed. We can't penetrate this rock", it said. "Don't worry my friend just try and keep pushing, some thing might work out", said the other tree in an optimistic tone. They continued to try and push. The first tree, however, had already lost the battle before it began, when it accepted that it would not be able to do anything about this obstacle it had come across. The second one however was not giving up and continued its best efforts.

Then one day it got the rewards for it's efforts. It's roots got bent, started to grow along the periphery of the rock and downwards. It's roots grew and like a web covered the rock all over and continued down. "I have succeeded in overcoming this obstacle my friend. I hope you have too, I hope you have pushed hard enough", it said to the first tree. The first one though, had given up long time back, it's roots remained above the rock and went no further. Now, instead of asking it's friend for help, the embarrassed tree faked success. "Yes I have done it too", it replied, this was far from reality though. So many times instead of asking friends for help, we fake success just to show we have done equally well or achieved the same success. Instead if we would only ask for help and guidance, our friends and well wishers would definitely help us out. There's nothing wrong in asking for help.

Time went on and the trees continued to grow. The first tree, that faked success, grew beyond its means only to match the growth of the other. It grew much bigger than what it's root system could support just to match the growth of the other tree who's roots had grown deep past the rock. What is there on the outside should be a direct function of what's on the inside. It's no point growing outwards for show when your 'roots' can not support that growth. How many people in today's society project an extravagant outside appearance when they are actually weak on the inside. It may be emotionally, physically or financially. Inner strength is what really matters.

So the two trees continued to grow and the farmer was really happy to see the progress. The trees were both four storeys high. While the first tree bore no fruits that season, for obvious reasons, the second one gave the farmer plenty of mangoes. This did not deter the farmer from taking equally good care of both the trees though. Summer was over and it was the onset of monsoons. One evening there was a heavy cloud cover with strong winds, indicating it would be stormy night. Indeed, that was a stormy night. Heavy rains lashed the area accompanied by thunder, lightning and very strong winds. The winds continued to pick up speed, then suddenly, a huge crashing sound was heard. The farmer took an umbrella and rushed out to the farm to check. He saw, the first tree, that faked success had fallen down. Sad, he retired to him home.

By morning the storm had passed. The farmer went out to inspect the damage. He saw one mango tree had fallen down, while the other stood strong. He went closer and was surprised to see, that the roots of the fallen tree, were very shallow for a tree of its size. The second tree that now stood alone just looked at it's fallen friend with grief. "If only it had told me the truth, I would have been able to help and guide", it thought to itself. The second tree's deep roots had ensured it survived the storm. Not just the deep roots but the fact that it had changed an obstacle to an advantage helped as well. The same rock that caused the first tree to fall, had proven to be a source of strength for the second tree. It's roots firmly wrapped around the rock, made it easier for the tree to withstand the storm.

Never be scared when you come across an obstacle, if you think right, you can even use it to your advantage. Never give up, keep trying and you never know when that break, that stroke of luck you have been waiting for will come your way. The surest way to fail is to stop trying. Never concentrate on outward show, be more concerned with inner growth because finally when the storm hits, it will be your inner strength that will help you endure and come out stronger.