Lotus

Time to bloom. The sun said to the lotus.

How? My roots are etched so deeply into the mud. What will I become? replied the lotus.

Our roots do not have the power to define us, they are merely a place for us to draw our energy from.

But how do I abandon the mud? asked the lotus.

You use the mud. You cannot grow without it.

So the lotus used the mud. The mud taught the lotus, it gave strength to her and it drowned her many, many times. But the lotus never forgot what the sun said. She knew where she was going. Then finally, the lotus bloomed. She was magnificent, not because she abandoned the mud, but because she was completely at ease in the mud.