On Wholeness

My assistant gave me a little plant about ten years ago. She was going back to graduate school when she entrusted it with me. I watered it dutifully, but it slowly withered away. Whenever a colleague passed by my office she would encourage me to just throw it away. It turned out that I wasn't doing very well professionally around that time so one day when I looked at the poor plant the thought crossed my mind that it may be a symbol of my career: half past dead. I was born a fighter, so on that day I took on the challenge, smiled at my little plant and said "Let's turn this thing around, shall we?"

I planted all the shoots anew and have many offsprings of this plant at home now. At work I have one single plant left to remind myself of the contrast between then and now. It turns out that this plant has become a symbol of my professional career. My career has prospered very much in the meantime as did the plant. A couple of years ago we changed buildings and I carried the plant in the freezing winter from the parking lot into my new office. This journey took a toll on the plant and it lost many leaves afterwards, but when they regrew, I discovered a new overall pattern: the plant was suddenly growing in the form of a circle. When I saw it I figured that it had become a symbol of my approaching spiritual wholeness.

Fact of the matter is that I am no longer working in order to be successful; I am working day and night to become whole instead. My professional job as a financial strategist provides me with the monetary means and the material to tell others about the way of the Tao. Have a look at my office plant below, wouldn't you agree with me that the circle is almost complete? There are a few more steps to take, but the lion share of my journey towards wholeness is behind me. I hope you can take some inspiration from this story. Take a good look around wherever you are, perhaps your personal symbol is already waiting to connect with you.