Late Bloomers

During one of our family vacations, we were just having a casual chat and my younger son, Sanjeev, was telling me, about how so many people have made it big in the film industry, at a very young age. The person we were discussing about was the music director G.V. Prakash, who started composing film music at the age of 19 and has won several awards since then. As we pondered more, we were able to think of a few more people, who have made it big in life at an early age.

What I realised from his observation, is that youngsters face a lot of anxiety when they don't achieve things early in life. They are constantly comparing their lives with others in their same age group and when they feel that they don’t match up to others, it gives them a feeling that they are a failure in life.

I told my son, that not many people find such great levels of success at a young age and it is absolutely OK for people to take their time, to be successful in life.

No doubt, it is fascinating to see many young talents, in the field of music, arts, sports and research too. There are also a number of childhood prodigies, who steal the limelight at a very young age. However,  the challenge faced by these people are higher social expectations, which is difficult to match, as they grow up. They are not capable of repeating the same level of success, that they were able to do, when they were young. This in turn leads to higher level of stress and quicker burn out.

Whereas there are people who haven't done great in their younger days, but have made slow yet steady progress. There are also stories of people who saw the limelight only at a later stage of life. There are so many people who are late bloomers. The classic example, illustrated most often to illustrate that we are never too old to start something new is the KFC founder, colonel sanders who was supposed to have started his business at around 65 years. There are many such people, who have made a late entry into the field , yet  have met with great amount of success.

I can relate myself as an example. I consider myself a late bloomer too. I was someone with high ambitions, right from my childhood days, but I did not make a significant impact in my career in my early days. However, today I enjoy a good amount social credibility. It is a result of staying consistent with my efforts, learning from my failures, and updating to the trends. There are times, we may have to change route too, but we should stay determined in reaching the destination. All the moments we didn't grow can be called the learning period and when our name and fame, skyrockets, it can be called a blooming period.

We never know when our years of efforts, will bring in the desired result, but we have to trust the process.

The analogy of the Bamboo tree is often used to motivate people who don’t find early success. It encourages people to trust the wait and be confident they will find success, sometime soon.

The Bamboo Tree, in the first year of it being planted show no visible signs that the plant is growing. The second year, third year and fourth years also shows no growth above ground. Finally, in the fifth year, the Bamboo Tree shoots up an incredible 80 feet in the air in a huge growth spurt. How did the Bamboo Tree achieve such fast growth and why did it wait so long to do it? For the first four years of its life, it was growing and developing a strong root system large enough to support its potential height in the years to come. Without the extensive underground base to grow on, the tree would never be able to sustain such growth and support itself for the many years that will follow.

If you have not yet made it big in life, don't fret. Whenever you tend to get disheartened of not making progress, in proportion to your efforts, just remember, the Bamboo tree. Your time will come!

D. Senthil Kannan,

  CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

  Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

  Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com