When I was a little boy, I saw my mother doing something with some beans. She noticed my interest and, after giving me a bean, told me, “Go outside, plant it, and see what happens.”
I went outside on this nice spring morning and pushed the little seed into the ground near some other plants and flowers, making sure to give it some water.
A few days later, I walked by and was amazed to see a little sprout peeking up out of the ground!
I got down on my hands and knees and marveled at how amazing it was! I eagerly gave it some more water and touched it gently.
As the days went by, I became disappointed in my plant’s performance. Perhaps I was under the influence of the Jack and the Beanstalk story.
I would visit the plant, water it, and poke at it in frustration saying, “Come on! What’s wrong with you?”
This went on for a few days. Then, one morning, I walked by and my little Planty was lying over on the ground as though it had given up and died–its two-and-a-half-inch stem all shrunken and brown, its leaves were withered.
I feel sad just thinking about how I destroyed that little life with my impatience.
The moral of this story should be fairly obvious. Let things develop in their own sphere; you’re not going to get a greater capacity out of something by poking, jabbing, and overwatering.
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