Multiplying a hundredfold

I just finished the book, The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino. It’s a delightful little book and one I recommend to everyone who wants to improve their ability to influence others. In it, the author creates this wonderful imagery when he likens us to grains of wheat.

A grain of wheat can be multiplied a hundredfold if it’s planted in soil and then nurtured by the sun, rain, and warm winds. It grows into a stalk of wheat bearing many, many more grains which can be ground into flour or planted for even more wheat.

We’re like a grain of wheat in that our failures, shortcomings, and pains are the soil in which we’ve been planted to rise out of.

And, like the grain of wheat which needs to be nurtured with sun and rain in order to grow, we need to nurture our bodies, minds, and spirits. We can do this by reading good books, caring for our relationships, and striving for health in every aspect of our lives (free resource for this here).

If we do this, if we tend to ourselves in a committed, determined manner, we will rise out of the dark soil in which we’ve been planted to grow. As we grow and burst forth with new life, our reach, our impact, our service, will be multiplied a hundredfold for which we’ll undoubtedly be rewarded for.

I love this imagery because it adds new meaning and purpose to the challenges we all inevitably face.

Personally, it adds meaning to the year my incredible mother died of cancer at age 49. She left behind her loving husband and eight children, the youngest of which was five. It was a very painful time for all of us, but one I can now look on it as being part of the soil in which I’ve been planted.

Will you join me in looking at your failures, shortcomings, and pains as the soil in which we’ve been planted to rise out of?

I hope you do. It adds new meaning and purpose to life’s inevitable challenges.