You Are Good Seed — Never Forget This!
“A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seeds fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings. Still, other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop — a hundredfold, sixtyfold, or thirtyfold.” — Jesus Christ.
I guess we are all familiar with the parable of the sower. Even if you’re not Christian, this is one of the parables told outside the context of religion or Christianity and so you may have come across it one way or another.
Most people interpret this parable differently, but with me, one interpretation that has really stayed with me is what I would like to share with you today.
For me, the key message from this parable is that all the seeds sowed by the farmer were GOOD! The only thing that prevented some of the seeds from flourishing was the soil. In other words, the only thing that hindered them from real growth was their environment.
To me, this is what Malcolm Gladwell used as his foundation for writing his bestseller, “Outliers — The Story of Success.” Right from the start of the book to the end, Malcolm was reiterating a very great point that “success has very little to do with the person in question, but rather it has a lot to do with chance & opportunities (environment)”
“The lesson here is very simple. But it is striking how often it is overlooked. We are so caught in the myths of the best and the brightest and the self-made that we think outliers spring naturally from the earth. We look at the young Bill Gates and marvel that our world allowed that thirteen-year-old to become a fabulously successful entrepreneur. But that’s the wrong lesson. Our world only allowed one thirteen-year-old unlimited access to a time sharing terminal in 1968. If a million teenagers had been given the same opportunity, how many more Microsofts would we have today?” — Malcolm Gladwell
If all the seeds had fallen on good soil, don’t you think they would all have produced a thirty, sixty, ninety, and hundredfold?
Do you get it now? Before you succeed, you first of all need to comprehend that you are a good seed! The more you understand this, the more you position yourself to receive opportunities & chances.
In my everyday life, one thing I keep praying for is an environment of chances & opportunities because once those present themselves, I know flourishing is already complete because I am good seed.
Unfortunately, we do not get to create our environments all the time, sometimes life just puts us in different environments which is no fault of ours, and thus it hinders us so much. However, sometimes we are responsible for the environments we put ourselves in, that has to do with the kind of friends we decide to hang out with, the kind of books we read, how we spend our time and so many other things that creates a certain environment which can hinder or promote growth.
“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.” — James Clear
I want to use this opportunity to inspire people who feel they are inadequate. You are not! You are GOOD SEED! I want you to reflect on the environments you have created yourself and see how it is impacting you and how you can redesign those environments for the better. I want you to pray to the Creator of the universe to put you in great environments because it is in great environments that you get to manifest your greatness and produce a thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold!
“We overlook just how large a role we all play — and by ‘we’ I mean society — in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.” — Malcolm Gladwell
“To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages today that determine success — the fortunate birth dates and the happy accidents of history — with a society that provides opportunities for all.” — Malcolm Gladwell.
If you belong to organizations or places that have high influence, you also have the responsibility to provide opportunities to all persons because we are all good seeds! All you have to do is give us a chance and watch us FLOURISH!
Thanks for taking your time to read.
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