Intro: Pounding bass note and a stirring fanfare of horns. Welcome to another edition of Things to Think About. Here's Stacy. The horns continue with a keyboard note held.
Relaxing piano music is in the background. Welcome to the Things To Think About Podcast where we use fables and fairy tales to come to deeper truths about our subconscious world. I’m Stacy Casson and today’s story explores how we deal with haters. We will dive into this topic in a tale I call, Dig Deep. And now, get comfortable and relax. Take a Deep Breathe in and exhale. A Deep Breath in, and exhale. A Deep breath in and exhale. And if you'd like, you can slowly...close...your eyes.
Once upon a time, a bamboo plant was given a home in someone’s yard. The plant got to work making roots. The bamboo was fortunate to have a loving and patient owner. It received regular water and fertilizer which allowed it to continue to establish itself underground. The other plants in the yard were suspicious of the bamboo. “What’s it doing?” they whispered amongst themselves. The bamboo could hear their whispering via its roots, but continued to work on its growth. The bamboo knew it was an extraordinary plant and ignored what the other plants had to say. The roses lived up to their thorny reputation and were the most aggressive at making the bamboo feel unwelcome.
“Hey squatter!” the roses shouted one day at the bamboo. "Why don’t you make yourself useful and leave?" The begonias and peonies laughed at the roses' poor humour. The bamboo paid them no mind and continued to poke and prod the soil finding purchase. As the year passed, the other flowers lost their blooms and leaves but in the spring the new blooms continued the relentless venom against the bamboo plant. “Welcome back,” the bamboo mumbled via its roots to the new flowers. “What was that bum-boo?” they retorted. They almost got a rise out of the bamboo, but it decided to ignore them and continue to work on strengthening itself.
There was sobbing all around. A heavy rainstorm had hit the neighborhood. Some of the petunias next door had all but drowned since the soil had eroded. The roses, begonias, and peonies sent over their thoughts and prayers to the other flowers in the yard next door. “You’re welcome,” the bamboo muttered to itself. Because it had become established in the yard, the soil had not eroded as much as their neighbors across the way. Knowing it was a bad idea, once again the bamboo tried to be friendly to its fellow plants. “I’m so sorry for your friends next door. I heard their owner has propped them up and quite a few are going to make it.” The other plants viciously attacked the still invisible bamboo. “It’s all your fault!” they screamed loud enough for its roots to tremble. “You just sit there drinking our water and eating our food while you don’t do anything! No beautiful flowers or even interesting leaves. You are such a waste of soil!”
This definitely hurt the bamboo’s feelings, but it decided to ignore them and continue to dig deeper into the soil. Finally, the bamboo felt ready. Tentatively, it allowed a shoot break ground. The other flowers were taken aback. They whispered amongst themselves about the change in the bamboo. Sadly, they defaulted to their old ways. “That’s it? Three years and all you can do is a lousy shoot?” The bamboo did not dignify them with a response. Each day it grew taller and stronger and very soon it was taller than everything else in the garden except the trees. Once again the seasons passed and the flowers withered and a new batch came forth. “Whoa! Who are you?” they asked in awe of their tall neighbor. “Pleased to meet you, I’m bamboo.”
You are going to have your haters. You always have a choice with how to respond. Many people will not appreciate your talents, that’s okay; dig deep. And now, you can take a deep breath in and exhale. A deep breath in and exhale. Deep breath in, and exhale. And when you're ready, wiggle your toes, wiggle your fingers, and slowly open your eyes.
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Closing:Closing jazzy keyboard and thrumming bass. Hope you enjoyed today's segment.Tell a friend. See you next time. Music fades.
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