There is an interesting anecdote I heard today that I wish to remember and relay as it really has stuck in my mind of late.
In a clear but verdant plain stood a gigantic oak tree. It was the only feature on an otherwise unremarkable landscape; though the oak was admist a field of lush grass,no other animals or plants were about.
One day a terrible storm came in - a cyclone of epic proportions. The winds blew a titanic gale and the oak was unrelenting; it refused to bend to the will of the wind. Few things in the world can withstand the unlimited power of the elements and the oak was no exception. The tree was uprooted, the branches snapped, the leaves stripped and the bough broken. The grass of the field was flexible and pliant; when the storm attacked the land the grass gracefully bowed and was spared the wrath of the tempest.
The purpose of the story is obviously to illustrate the benefits of flexibility and humility when faced with catastrophe. Rigidity and pride will do you little good against an implaccable foe.
This isn't what interested me about the story however. What fascinated me was the alternative perspective that was offered at the conclusion of the tale - that it was better to be the giant oak than the grass. That it was better to leave this world as a mighty tree; the source of pride and glory of the land, than to live on as some pathetic nameless blade of grass. Why not go out with style and dignity rather than be forgotten and unremarkable?
