Jim Rohn tells a story about a rock pile that hits on so many points.
There’s a story about a man who took a rock pile and in two years, turned it into a fabulous garden. And people came from everywhere to see it.
One day, a man came by and saw the garden and thought it was fabulous, but he wanted to make sure the gardener did not take all the credit. He had this deep feeling inside that a lot of people leave God out.
So the man toured the garden to have the chance to meet the gardener. He eventually found the gardener, shook his hand and said, “Mr Gardener, you and the good Lord together have made this beautiful garden.”
The gardener immediately understood his message and his point. So he replied, “I think that’s true. If it’s not for the sunshine and the rain, and the miracle of the seeds and the soil and the seasons, there would be no garden at all.”
And he continued, “But you know, you should have seen this place a couple of years ago when God had it all by himself.”
Here are the points:
1. Patience
It took the gardener two years to turn a rock pile into a fabulous garden. That is two seasons worth of planting, weeding, water, and tending.
2. Vision
The gardener saw the potential where others saw only rocks.
3. Resourcefulness
All the resources the gardener (or anybody else) needed to create a beautiful garden where rocks lay was accessible if one was resourceful enough to find and utilize them.
4. Work
Without putting in the necessary work the rock pile would have stayed a rock pile.
5. Grace
When you do something great people are going to try to take it away from you.
They are going to try to make themselves feel better by diminishing your success.
Take it with grace and understand that it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.
Here them and help them see their potential.
Brett “Gardening” Denton
