Progress isn’t always visible and some of the most important growth can happen underground
Have you ever felt like everyone else is moving forward while you are standing still? You know the feeling. Someone gets the promotion. Somebody starts a successful business. Another friend buys a new house. Someone else seems to have life all figured out.
Meanwhile, you are still trying to remember why you walked into the kitchen in the first place. At my age, that happens more often than I care to admit!
I recently came across a story about a Fern and a Bamboo Tree, and it got me thinking.
The story goes that a gardener planted a Fern and a Bamboo seed at exactly the same time. He watered them both faithfully and cared for them equally.
Within a few weeks the Fern burst through the soil. Bright green leaves appeared almost overnight. It seemed to grow bigger and stronger every day. The gardener could see progress and felt encouraged.
The Bamboo, however, appeared to be on a completely different programme. Nothing happened. Weeks passed … nothing. Months passed … still nothing.
The Fern continued growing and showing off its beautiful leaves while the Bamboo stubbornly refused to make an appearance. After a year there was still no sign of life above the ground.
The gardener could easily have concluded that the Bamboo had failed. After all, if something is growing surely you should be able to see it? Yet, beneath the surface a miracle was taking place.
The Bamboo was busy developing an extensive root system. It was building strength, stability and resilience underground. The growth was real, but it was invisible. Then, after years of patient preparation, the Bamboo finally broke through the surface.
And when it did, it didn’t grow a few centimetres here and there. It shot upwards at an astonishing rate, eventually towering above the Fern. The question is, when did the Bamboo actually grow? Was it during those dramatic months when everyone could see it? Or was it during the years when nobody could?
I suspect many of us are Bamboo Trees. Particularly those of us who have faced disability, illness, unemployment, loss, heartbreak or life’s unexpected detours. Life has a habit of convincing us that visible progress is the only progress that matters.
We live in a world of highlights. Social media is full of smiling faces, perfect holidays and overnight successes. What we don’t see are the years of disappointment, rejection, hard work and perseverance behind the photograph.
It’s a bit like watching the finish of a marathon and assuming the runner only started five minutes ago.
As a life coach, I often speak to people who feel frustrated because they believe they are not making progress. They say things like “I’m still unemployed”; “My business isn’t growing”; “I haven’t achieved my goal”; “I don’t seem to be getting anywhere”.
Yet, when we dig a little deeper, a very different picture emerges. They have learned new skills. They have become more resilient. They have gained confidence. They have developed wisdom. They have survived challenges that would have defeated the person they used to be.
In other words, roots are growing. Sometimes life is not delaying us. Sometimes life is preparing us. I know this from personal experience.
I read a saying by Jennifer L. Armentrout that goes: “Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.”
Following my injury there were many days when progress felt painfully slow. While others appeared to be racing ahead, I often felt as if I was parked on the side of the road with my hazard lights flashing.
Looking back now, I can see that some of my most important growth happened during those difficult years.
Patience grew. Compassion grew. Gratitude grew. Purpose grew. The roots were spreading long before anything was visible above the surface. Isn’t that true for all of us?
The mother raising a child with special needs. The student struggling through another year of study. The job seeker sending out application after application. The entrepreneur working from a kitchen table. The person rebuilding their life after loss.
None of them may look successful yet, but roots are growing. The Fern and the Bamboo remind us of a powerful truth.
Do not compare your chapter three to someone else’s chapter twenty. Do not assume that because nothing is visible, nothing is happening. Do not mistake preparation for failure.
If you are doing the work, learning the lessons, showing up every day and refusing to quit, growth is taking place. It may be underground. It may be invisible. It may be slower than you would like, but roots are growing.
One day, when the time is right, people will see the Bamboo. What they won’t see are the years spent becoming strong enough to support it. Keep watering your dreams. Keep growing your roots. Your miracle may already be happening underground.
