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| Bahai Garden, Israel |
Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose dream
was to have a beautiful garden.
Most people
in her village had a garden but only a few were beautiful.
She loved to walk in her neighbors’ gardens, touch the
petals and sniff the sweet fragrance of the beautiful flowers. Roses, jasmines,
lavenders, chrysanthemums, daffodils, she loved them dearly.
She loved to
catch colorful butterflies and hear the sound of rustling leaves.
But, there was a thing. She, herself, didn’t have a
garden. Not because she didn’t have much space in her yard, but because she’s
too scared to plant flowers and make a garden.
She’s afraid of failures. What if she failed to plant
the flowers she loved.
What if the flowers didn’t want to bloom because she’s
not a good gardener. What if the garden turned to be a messy one and nothing
grew from the soil.
She felt
weary every time she thought about it. Thus far, she never gave a try.
***
Every day she came to the most beautiful garden in the
village. She spent hours on walking, reading and playing in that garden.
An old lady owned the garden
since long time ago. She
smelled like morning grass, her smile looked like a warm sunshine. The little
girl often saw the old lady talked to her plants. Whispering something and
asking them to grow big and beautiful.
She liked to watch her watering the grass and flowers
and fertilize the soil. Sometimes she saw her cut some of the branches. And it
made the flowers grew dense and fertile.
‘She must be a witch garden,’ the little girl said to
herself.
The old lady didn’t mind every time the girl came to
her garden. She never talked to her, she was busy with her plants.
Until one warm afternoon. The old lady walked over to
the girl.
‘My dear, I see you come every day to my garden. If
you love flowers so much, why don’t you have your own garden?’ her voice was so
tender.
The girl
gasped with surprise. She never expected that the old lady would talk to her.
‘I can’t. I mean I think I’m not good in planting
flowers,’ she finally answered after a few seconds.
‘Why? What was the reason?’ she asked. As the old lady
got closer, the girl noticed that she radiated warm and something
familiar, so earthy.
‘Hmmm, well, actually, I’m scared,’ the girl replied
quietly.
She looked up and stared at the old lady. She stood
still for a few minutes. At the end, she told her all about her worries.
The old lady listened to her carefully.
She tapped the girl’s palm gently and said, ‘You don’t
know what you will miss if you won’t start anything. My dear, nothing good in
this world comes easily, you have to fight. You have to try first.’
‘What if I fail?’ the girl worried about her bad
thoughts.
‘You can try again. If your plants don’t grow as you
wish, you can try again. But, at first, you have to learn from your failure.
Make a note why the flowers don’t want to grow, why the soil isn’t fertile.
And give yourself another try,’ the lady smiled.
‘But I am not as good as you. I’m even not as good as
other people in the village,’ the girl was still in disbelief.
‘Do not compare yourself with me. Do not compare
yourself with others. All gardens in this village are unique. All the owners
are also unique. And so are you,’ she tried to ensure the little girl.
There’s a warm feeling inside the girl’s heart when
she heard her words.
‘If I try, would you, would you help
me to create my garden?’ she asked doubtfully.
‘Of course, my dear. I will help you. With three
conditions,’ the old lady nodded her head.
‘I will help you as long you have passion, a strong
will, and commitment. Are you, my dear, willing to give me these three
conditions?’
The girl saw a gleam in the old lady’s eyes. She’s
hesitant for a few minutes then she looked back the lady with a smile. Blissfulness in her little face.
‘Yes, I’m willing to give you my passion for flowers,
strong will to plant and commitment to creating my beautiful garden. Thank
you,’ the little girl, at the end, beamed with delight.
***
Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose dream
was to have a beautiful garden. And she had been trying to make her dream came
true. She now believed, as long as she had those three things and follow the
old lady’s guidance, she would succeed.
***
