All of life is a race with ups and downs, and all you have to do to win the race is rise each time you fall. "Quit, give up, you're beaten," they still shout in your face, but a stronger voice inside you says, "Get up and win the race."
The Chinese bamboo plant is a powerful example of perseverance. During the first four years after planting, even though it is watered and fertilized regularly, it grows very little in height. Then, in the fifth year, after applying water and fertilizer, the plant grows nearly ninety feet in height in five weeks time! The question: Did the Chinese bamboo tree grow ninety feet in five weeks or in five years? The answer: It grew ninety feet in five years. If at any time, the people had stopped watering and fertilizing, the plant would have died. We are like this amazing plant; we must continue to water and fertilize our life with hope, faith, and perseverance, or we will die and leave our dreams to wither away.
