Positivity, Patience, and Perseverance
This is a seed
A seed holds its entire future within itself. It may not be wrong to say that in a subtle form a tree already exists in the seed! A seed when it is sown and nurtured with the right ingredients grows into the tree it was always meant to be.
You know, as a child, I was very fascinated by old trees. I wondered how many people may have rested under its shadow, savoured its fruit or seen it with the same wonder as I do.
My father was in the Army which meant that I never stayed in a city for more than two years. In my mind, it meant unending adventure. I grew up in India so moving into a new city also meant adapting to a new culture, language, food, and festivals and not to forget, hearing local stories. Amidst everything that changed around me, what remained constant was my love and fascination for trees.
The more diversity I saw in their shapes and structure, the deeper I appreciated the power of a single seed. My young mind made an observation — one to appreciate the variety and uniqueness that nature provides us abundantly and two that everything that what we potentially can become is already within us. We just need to hold on to patience and nurture it with perseverance to let the seed within us sprout and grow with love.
I was eight-year-old and I remember writing that on a paper two lines; one that my father often said, ‘A soldier never looks back.’ And second ‘Dream, Ekta, dream’. I stuck them inside my cupboard. In my own innocent way, I harnessed on the power of affirmations and the seed of positive thinking was sown in my heart.
As far as I remember, I really was always a writer. That was my medium of expression to capture all the fascinating observation my curious mind was constantly making. By the time I turned 18, I had written 78 poems and 8 stories.
I came to the UK twenty years back. Being used to the ritual of moving cities, the transition was neither uneasy nor scary. As a matter of fact, I was excited to learn a new culture and hear new stories. I did that with enthusiasm for years but with time I realised that my new world was not quite enthusiastic to hear my story.
Maybe because they had nurtured the seed of life in a completely different environment than me so naturally, we not just looked different, we also had a different habitat, just like trees I thought. The writer in me kept writing stories that But when I received my 7th rejection letter from a literary agent with the same words that my writing has potential, but they don’t believe there is market for the book, I wondered if the illusion of separation made us forgot that we all are connected as humans; each with a different experience.Certainly, one needs to hear diverse stories to seed new knowledge and embrace novel perspective.
That day I made another profound observation. That it was futile to fight with fellow trees; instead, I had to nurture the environment and make it conducive to adapt to my uniqueness.
Fuelled by power of positivity, patience and perseverance; that one lesson that I had learnt years back, the lesson to dare to dream against all odds manifested as Author In Me publishing 6 years back and has led us to this very moment that we all are experiencing here this day.
Today, I am an award-winning author of the book, The Voice of Kali, and I and my business partner, Monica, together we have mentored more that 1000 children to write stories, designed 500+ picture books and published 35 books written by authors of all ages, the youngest being 7-year-old and oldest is 80-year-old. All connected by the love for stories.
This is the power of a single seed. A single step and a single dream.
Patience is transformational. Everything in nature that transforms; not changes but transforms displays an immense level of patience. A butterfly into a caterpillar, a seed into a tree, a dream into reality, notes into a song, words into a story, idea into invention. Everything that syncs in the harmony of the natural rhythm of patience is phenomenal and has the power to influence many lives.
As the revered monk, Swami Vivekananda said
Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.
Perseverance gives power to patience. Just silently observing, constantly learning, and taking small steps in the right direction everyday has the potential to alter the entire course of your destiny.
Both patience and perseverance together when propelled with a positive mindset have the uncanny ability to create synchronicity in life. It’s not magic, its natural. Because once you sync in harmony with the natural rhythm of life you flow effortlessly in life. The conditions to nurture the seed of life become optimum and naturally and everything that is meant to assist your growth naturally comes to you.
So, to everyone who is holding a dream, to the children that spoke about the power of stories, to the people present here who dream to share their story, I want to remind you to work towards it with complete authenticity. Every intention and effort that is real and true to you will manifest in time.
Watch the speech at
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