And now, ladies and gentlemen, stay tuned for a little candid allegory …
Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in an enchanted forest where a bubbling well sprang up and watered the entire forest. The little girl grew up on this water, needing naught to eat or drink but this water. And as time passed, she became accustomed to the water’s refreshing coolness, and wanted nothing more than to contentedly stay in the forest where she had grown up. However, as the little girl grew up, she began to realize that the once-large forest was but a small oasis of peace in the middle of a large desolation of thirsty and hungry people who did not even know of the existence of such a marvelous spring. And, like the well she lived off of, an unexplainable desire sprung within her to help these nomadic desert-dwellers and whet their palates enough so that they wished to dig their own wells and drink from their own springs.
With this desire bubbling from within her, she began to pick and fill leaves of water from her well and give them to the parched denizens of the wasteland, but it was never enough. So, the little girl began to think, and she discovered a way to weave watertight baskets out of branches and stems. These baskets helped, but they were still not large enough to water the entire wasteland. The little girl knew that the wasteland was too large and she too small, so she thought again, went on a trip of exploration, and found other oases where the same inexplicable springs welled up.
In fact, she found that one particular group of forest-folk had a colony that had come together for the sole purpose of taking water to five remote encampments in the vast desert. However, to build a basket large enough to travel with, the little girl had to collect branches and stems from many of her friends. Of course, the little girl had never collected branches and stems from others, it had always been her own branches, stems, and leaves that she had used to bring water to others, and so she was intimidated by this monumental task.
Nevertheless, she felt compelled to share her water, and she knew that her own basket was too small, but to ask others for their hard-won resources seemed like too much for her. She knew that she had to share the water, but did not know if that particular large basket was what she had to put the water in, and if, once completed, the basket would spring leaks. Nevertheless, the little girl went ahead and built the first quarter of the basket without a hitch. But, as she began to ask more of her neighbors for branches, it seemed as if the task was too large for her and she would never be able to collect enough materials to build a basket. So, once again, the little girl decided to think and decide if it was at all possible to finish construction or if she should simply cut her losses and retreat into the comfort of her own oasis. And she still doesn’t know….
The company sincerely apologizes for the interruption, and promises to resume the story as soon as there is an available update. And now, back to our regularly scheduled program…
