A Zen Master was walking through the forest with one of his students down a narrow trail, along a steep incline. The student lost his footing and slipped, just as he began falling down the hill the student reached out and grabbed a small bamboo tree. The bamboo bent nearly all the way over as the student continued to hold on tightly. He pulled himself up and brushed himself off with the Zen Masters help. 

“Did you notice that when you fell, you grabbed a hold of the bamboo and it bent nearly all the way over and still supported you.” The Zen Master asked.

“Yes,” the student replied. The Zen Master gripped the bamboo and pulled the bamboo over.

“Be like the bamboo,” The Zen Master said as he let go of the bamboo and it sprang back to its up-right position. “It is pushed around by the wind and yet it always bounces back and grows upward, toward the sun, enlightenment. Have you ever felt as though you were going to snap. Have you ever felt as though you were at your breaking point, emotionally?”

“Yes,” the student replied.

“Then bend, do not break, such is the way with bamboo. It endures the stress and finds away to bounce back!” The Zen Master stated. “This is called resilience.”

by Art~

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(moral: when stress and burdens bring us to our breaking point, be like bamboo, resilient. Bend but do not snap)