Tale of the Apple

A man planted an apple seed into the soil one day. He took care to cultivate the tree slowly everyday, watering his love and his devotion into the tree. He took efforts to pull out weeds around the tree day by day, watching his beloved apple tree mature into a healthy and beautiful plant. And when the harvesting season comes, the tree bore fruits that are tasteless.

The man wondered why, when he used so much effort and love, the tree bore tasteless fruits. And so, unable to decipher what is wrong, he sank into despair and sat below the tree drowning in sorrow day after day. A week later, his apple tree slowly wilted....

The next day, his neighbor was walking pass this man and saw him sitting quietly below the dying tree and shedding tears quietly. Concerned, he proceeded over and asked the man why is he so full of sorrow. The man told the neighbor his story and the neighbor, after listening to his plight, took out an apple from his bag and gave it to the man.

After taking a bite, the apple is surprisingly very sweet and tasty. And so the man asked his neighbor how come his apple is so nice and sweet. The neighbor replied : " I showered my tree with love and devotion, taking great care to weed out the weeds everyday and show the tree tender loving care everyday." . The man was obviously very puzzled because he did the same thing too, but his results wasn't what he had expected.

And hence the man begged the neighbor to tell him the formula to his great tasting apples. The neighbor smiled and told the man this : " I too went through the same thing as you, my tree also produced fruits that were tasteless, but then, rather then wallowing in despair, why not u use the time to continue cultivating the tree, waiting for the next harvest period? Although this harvest period might not bear sweet fruits, we can always look forward to the next harvest, and the next next harvest, so on and so forth..."

I was on the mrt coming home from school just now, doing my usual reflection of the events in my life when i sort of visualized this story. Alot of people became sad and sorrowful after somethings in their life did not went their way. As is with me, but then thinking about it, rather then sympatizing and feeling sad for your plight, u might as well use the time to do something about it. Being sad and everything does not change anything at all, but if u did something after your failure, you will taste success finally. Nobody fails forever, there will be a day u will inevitably taste sweet fruits.

I truly believe what makes a man, is his spirit and his will. So what no matter how many hits u take, how many blows u receive,remember to stand firm and stand tall in the face of adversity.
there's a phrase in hokkien for this never-dying spirit, its called PA BUAY TOU! :)

Jason's Famous Quotes : If u treasure the tree so much, remember not to give up the tree.

Did You Know? : Professionals call this spirit---> entrepreneuring spirit. -.-"