Agarwood - a life metaphor

Agarwood

Human

When a Aquilaria tree was young with no attack, it does not stand out the crowd.

Similarly a child with little life experience will fail many times and learn.

 (image: imindshift.com)

Grown Aquilaria tree attacked by insects, thunder bolts, fungus, thus wounded. Many died, but some fought back by creating “agarwood”, the resin, the warriors that bravely stand against the disease and eventually won.

Stage of forming agarwood:

• Unresinated: Aquilaria tree is healthy and not invaded by fungus. The wood contains mainly fibre.There is no value on this except for firewood
• Early infection: this process takes around 2 years to form, the wood is yellowish to brownish, mainly from the oil created
• Mid infection: the infection spread out and so the resin, the wood start to rot, less fibre and more oil and resin. This process takes years to form
• Long term infection: after decades, more resin (agarwood) created, and the wood starts to half-sink or sink due to its density from the resin

Grown up adult with many life experiences and hardship. Some had given up, others tried to overcome. One who countered all the hardship won and sublime, became successful. 

Stage of becoming a wise man:

• Child: inexperienced, still learn what to do 
• Early life: learning from school, and society, this process take years
• Mid life: experience accumulated from trial and error, one might fail many times but learn to keep going. If he/she gives up, that is the end of it, he/she would be an average person. However, the desire to be successful is great enough, they will thrive, and eventually become "agarwood", an achievement.

It takes years to form agarwood, the resin which protects the Aquilaria tree

Success does not come overnight. It also takes year to come with countless effort

“When something does not kill you, it makes you stronger”. This saying is very true in this scenario. Once agarwood is formed in the Aquilaria tree, it would stay there and turned into very precious incense overtime. The resin act as the tree guardians.

Many famous inventors, like Thomas Edison, or sport elite, Michael Jordon, failed many times, enduring countless difficulties, obstacles. Yet once they overcome it, they would form “agarwood” themselves, successful people.  

When life gives tree diseases, it gives agarwood.

When life gives you lemon, you makes lemonade, turn what you got to fight the disadvantages