Hello Readers,
Thank you all for visiting my site and for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate it very much. Wishing you all a very happy healthy and harmonious New Year 2026!!
Today, I felt like sharing a traditional Chinese Folk tale that inspires me always and especially now!!!
The story begins like all good stories do. Long long time ago in the kingdom of China, there lived a caring boy named Ping. Ping loved gardening and indeed he was gifted with a green thumb. When he tended the plants, flowers and fruits would grow abundantly like magic.
The king was growing old and he did not have a suitable heir to his throne. The king loved gardening too! One day, as he was sitting in his garden, an idea came to him as he was watching his beautiful flowers. He found a brilliant solution to select his heir. He said, “I will let the trees choose.”
Next day he called his ministers and issued a decree that the King will hold a competition for all the boys in the kingdom. All participants must come on the next full moon day to collect their royal seed. They will plant the seed and care for it. A year later, each participant will return with their plant and the boy who grew the finest plant will win the competition and succeed as the next king…
When they heard this, every boy in China was wild with joy! Ping was hopeful as everyone in his village praised his skills and fought over his produce every summer.
Ping carefully planted his royal seed with fresh soil and watered it everyday but nothing would sprout. He tried replanting and all his other tricks to see the seedling grow. Alas! even though he heard other boys successfully growing their plants, Ping was not able to make his seed grow. He tried and tried for a whole year.
Finally the day came when the boys needed to take their plants to the King, to be judged. Ping felt ashamed of his pot but he mustered the courage to go. “I will take my pot the way it is. I have tried everything I could to make it grow.”
At the palace, all the boys had brought beautiful flowers tall and short. When the King came to Ping, he smiled gently at the empty pot.
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I want to cheer for all those BRAVE ones who still believe in themselves and do the right thing no matter what…. even if the world ridicules or misunderstands and others are doing just the opposite.
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