The little soul lived for many years in the same woods. The
sun shone on her leafy branches and she produced much fruit. After many years the
trees around this soul grew and their branches met above her head. Those
branches provided comfortable shade. She was content in the place she’d always
grown. She knew every plant in the woods.
After a time the little soul felt discontent. When a storm
raged overhead, the towering branches swayed and clashed together. Sometimes
huge branches broke off the trees and crashed to the forest floor, clipping her
own branches. On sunny days, she never saw the sun, for the shade had grown too
deep. After a time, the little soul realized she was not being fed; she was no
longer growing. She no longer felt the sun’s rays stimulating growth. Even
though she was content in her comfortable shady woods, she was hungry. Her
leaves drooped. Her fruit dried up and dropped to the ground. She no longer
produced new fruit. She had become stagnant.
She pondered her situation. The woods were dark, deep, and comfortable.
She wanted to stay, but she longed to grow and once again bear fruit.
After much thought, she made her decision. With great effort
and great sadness, she pulled her roots out of the familiar soil and moved from
her shady spot. She traveled to another, less familiar location. Here she lived
with strangers. Here she was the outsider. Here the summer was harsh and hot
with the unfamiliar and the new. But she planted her roots in the sunny spot
where she knew she’d appease her hunger. She longed for the challenge of new
growth. She looked up at the sun, lifted her branches heavenward, sighed as the
breeze rustled through her leaves, and grew once again.
