Nurtured Growth

A wise man shared a story with me which, as he told it, revealed a much deeper meaning. I am not sure he intended to share the story as a parable or just as an interesting anecdote, but we both saw the value in the message.

As a fine chef, fresh ingredients are of paramount importance, particularly the herbs. Freshly picked herbs have far superior flavour so imagine the dilemma when the chef found his basil plants depleted. Recalling that he had some seeds stashed away in the shed, he rummaged through all the containers he had in storage until he found an old tin with the rolled up packet of basil seeds inside. Inspecting the packet, the seeds were some years old and well passed the best before date. With nothing to lose and a bit of faith, the chef planted the seeds in some good soil, gave them some water and positioned them in a protected sun-lit area.

Daily, the chef checked on the seeds, watered them, checked nothing was interfering with their growth and waited patiently. After a few days, the chef was rewarded with the first signs of green leaves pushing through the soil. With continued care and nurturing, the small leaves broke through the soil and developed into seedlings. Once the seedlings were mature enough, they were transferred to the vegetable garden. With some continued nurturing, the seedlings developed into fully grown basil plants. The leaves could be harvested and their flavour used to compliment a variety of dishes.

The underlying message here, is the hidden skills we all have buried within us. The talents and flavours we have stored deep down, just need to be realised, nurtured and brought to the table.

Perhaps there are things we lack the confidence to bring to the world. Perhaps we did and were heartlessly rejected and are now too scared to try again. Perhaps it’s something we don’t even know we have a flair for.

Each scenario needs somebody to bring that talent out from the dark, put some faith and confidence into growing that skill. To take a nurturing role.  We just have to take a step of faith and believe in our talent.

The chef in the story planted those seeds even though they had long since expired. If he didn’t have some small belief that the seeds would still grow, he would have been stupid for wasting his time in planting them. That tiny bit of faith is all that was required to initiate new growth. In the same way you just have to have the faith in yourself and make yourself available to be nurtured.