Period 4
Professional Writing Sample
See the Forest for the Trees
As the great poet Robert Louis Stevenson once said, “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” I believe this quote says that if you put all your attention on planting you will have overflowing crops, but if you focus on the crops, you might lose sight of how the crops came about. In the end it’s not about enjoying the results, it’s about enjoying how the things started.
The quote also infers that in the end it’s not important the money you make or the materialistic things you get in life, but the important contributions you make to someone’s day or the memories you give them. In other words don’t judge the day by what you have received, but by what you have given. Of course, this quote means different things to different people, but as for me, the most important word I discovered from this quote is patience. If you have ever worked with plants then you know that patience is an essential part of getting anything done. You cannot hurry the plants to grow, you can only provide them with what they need, and wait. With patience, you keep nurturing the plant until it is time for harvest. Each stage of life is a “harvest” of some sort and can take years, or more, of patience to realize.
This quote is important to me because as a registered nurse each day holds an opportunity for me to reach out, touch another person’s life, and make a difference in their life. What I can do for others may not make a difference in their life today or tomorrow, but it will make a difference for them in their future.
To me patience is a game within a game. You have to practice patience. For the future my goal is to stay patient by remembering where the seeds I plant will take me. Whether it’s nurturing plants, or choosing what I college I will attend, I will think of what that seed will do for me.