Never underestimate the little weed

In the midst of our hustle and bustle daily life, lets take a moment to slow down and recap what has happened to the surroundings as we moved on.

There was this very beautiful garden at the border of time, where all kinds of flowers bloomed in the glorious splendour amidst a profusion of colours. The trees bore fruits so succulent and luscious, they were open invitations to be picked.

This paradise on earth became a shelter for people caught in the throes of everyday living. In the morning, they rejoiced with the dew-tipped flowers as they lifted up their heads to greet the victorious sun back from its eternal battle with the night.

The afternoon changed it into a haven for those who need to pause for breath from a pulsating rat race. The magic wand of evening transformed it into a playground of childhood joys, and a wonderland of peace and beauty for tired minds and weary souls. At night, a fairy tale came true as it turned into a world of romance for starry-eyed lovers.

So this garden became indispensable to everyone in need of consolation in care-worn world. One day, the garderner found a little weed growing in the midst of that otherwise perfect garden. But he shrugged and said," It's only a little weed, what harm can it do?" So he left it alone and went about his other chores. In the still of the night, ten other weeds sprouted in an obscure corner of the garden. The next day, a few more patches of weeds appeared in various parts of the compound. Because they were hidden by the overhanging branches of the trees, they were able to multiply unseen.

When the garderner finally spotted the weeds, they had already formed a deeply woven network like a carefully stitched tapestry, on the ground. The patch that he managed to clear during the day increased during the night. And the more the cleared, the more they multiplied,. They became so numerous that they began to suffocate the small and growing plants. Then, as they grew taller and stronger, they attacked the big plants and the deeply-entwined roots of the trees.

Soon thorns appeared among the weeds and began stabbing and piercing their way through the chaos. The flowers withered away, the plants died at the onslaught, and the stalwart trees met with defeat at the hands of the snarling, clawing weeds and razor sharp thorns; which never seemed to stop growing on their relentless path of destruction and mayhem.

The garden became a wild jungle in the middle of a civilised world. No one dared to venture in, for fear of being attacked by the lawless weeds. It was no longer a haven of beauty and tranquillity,but an ugly untamed wasteland; an eyesore and shame of progress, condemned but could not be got rid of.

All because someone underestimated a little weed.

Well, this is indeed a thought-provoking tale and it has knocked some sense into me. The best way this tale can relate to is a growing child. A world that you see through a child's eye is magical kingdom surrounded by sunshines and hopes. Under the uncompromising care and undivided attention, a child can be nurtured to become a young man who excels in every field. However, just like the little weed, if you let the child alone and take the surroundings for granted, the child will absorb every little input that surrounds him regardless of good or bad energy that these inputs bring. Soon it will be too late to realize that your once innocent little angel has turned into a horrifying eyesore to manhood. For those of you who are gifted with children, treasure them so that you'll be treasured at the end of the day.

Thoughts of the day

A friend sent me this article, and I thought it may be good to share the contents as it provokes some inner thoughts and realization moments after reading it...It goes like this :

A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boardroom of a big airport. As she would need to wait many hours, she decided to buy a book and spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies. She sat down in an arm chair, in the VIP room of the airport, to rest and read in peace. Beside the armchair where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started reading. When she took out the first cookie, the man also took one. She felt irritated but said nothing. She just thought : "What a nerve! If I was in the mood, I would punch him for daring!" For each cookie she took, the man took one too. This was infuriating her but she didn't want to cause a scene. When only one cookie remained, she thought: "ah, what this abusive man do now?" Then, the man, taking the last cookie, divided it into half, giving her one half. Ah! That was too much! She was much too angry now! In a huff, she took her books, her things and stormed to the boarding place. When she sat down in her seat, inside the plane, she looked into her purse to take her eyeglasses, and, to her surprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened!

She felt so ashamed!! She realized that she was wrong...She had forgotten that her cookies were kept in her purse. The man had divided his cookies with her, withut feeling angered or bitter...while she had been angry, thinking that she was dividing her cookies with him. And now there was no chance to explain herself...nor to apologize".

A wrap up to the story : There are 4 things that you cannot recover in life :

1) The stone...after the throw!
2) The word...after it's said.
3) The occasion...after the loss.
4) The time...after it's gone.

My comments :
Not many people are willing to share their cookies with total strangers, well least to say not that I know of one. As the world began its revolution with edgeless technologies conquering humanity, we spend less time getting to know the real characteristics of things around us. We judge people with a sense of disbelief, insecurity and prejudice rather than the beauty that they possess. Wouldn't it be a loss to only realize that we'd just missed the opportunity to behold the nicest gems in our hands? After all, we only live once :).

My then glorious garden

Ching, this used to be my little garden that I am damn proud of. Sadly to say I remove it 2 years ago knowing that I could never provide the attention that my plants needed at that time. I fell in love with gardening ever since my first trip to Cameron Highlands. After the trip, my favourite passtime is spending my weekends in the nursery hunting for suitable plants for my garden.

My attempt to add roses into my collection proved to be total failure as I painfully watched those beauties loses their glow as days went by. I was told that those so called 'local breed roses' can withstand our hot and wet climate, but in actual fact they were too fragile to survive under such weather. I even kept a pair of 'peacock fish' which eventually breeded into a larger community in the little fountain that I built for them.

A green house is my dream garden someday when I am ready to devote to this favourite passtime of mine :) but definitely not now as I know where my commitments are.