When the Sunflower Desired the Sun

Sincere Efforts Are Always Rewarded

It was dark and cold and I felt my soul had shrunk. I don’t know if it was possible for the soul to be larger than the body, but it seemed to be the case in mine. I felt squeezed on all sides. It was as if I only had air for a certain period of time, and then if I didn’t take some action, I would die… this way in the dark and cold without having felt the warmth of the sun. What a life that would have been — completely meaningless.

I stretched slightly a few times to see what would happen. I felt something crack around me and that gave me the motivation to keep going. And the more effort I put in, the stronger I felt, and the space around me started to get bigger. I calmed down and took a breath. I told myself I would rest now and blissfully closed my eyes. But as I lay there, thinking I had done enough work, something began to press in on me and my space grew smaller again.

When I opened my eyes I was almost in the original position. I was angry with myself. If I had made more of an effort, I would probably be on the surface right now enjoying the sun. So I started tunneling through the dirt again, and every time I tried to dislodge more than one clod of dirt, my efforts were in vain because my whole face was covered and I couldn’t go on without seeing.

I learned that when you want something with all your heart, you have to work hard. Everything takes time, and any attempt to make the journey more painless will remain futile, precisely because if you haven’t put in enough effort to achieve your dream, there’s no way to truly appreciate it afterward. The dream differs from all our daily whims in exactly this way — we have dreamt of it because we knew that achieving it would change our lives for the better. That’s why it makes sense to go all the way, no matter how hard it is.

After many tireless days and nights, I finally reached the surface. I was so exhausted I could barely watch. My eyes were closing and yet I realized that the place I was now in was much more spacious than my previous refuge. Yet again it was dark and cold. There was also a wind that made me shiver further, and in the distance, a large circle was watching me with a smile and curiosity.

- Are you the Sun?”, I asked hopefully. - I’m sorry to disappoint you, little one, but I’m not the Sun. I am the Moon. Who are you? - Am I? Well, I don’t know. I just appeared on the surface of the earth, and I’ve never asked myself that question. Maybe I should ask someone. - Don’t worry, my friend. When the time comes, you’ll find out for yourself who you are. The path to self is the longest, so have patience. Now you better close your eyes and sleep. You have taken the most important step towards change — finding the strength within yourself to take a path you don’t know where it leads, just to give your soul room to breathe.

I smiled at the wise Moon, thanked her, and breathed in the clear night air that, even if a little cold, filled me with hope that I was closer to meeting my Sun.

I woke up. I don’t know how much time had passed, but I was all groggy and shaking. There was no memory of the moon, let alone the sun. It was raining hard and blowing and I was already wondering if I had better hide underground again. Even though it was dark and cold, at least I’d be dry.

I tried to curl up but to no avail. Apparently, I had grown quite a bit and the space wasn’t enough. I had no choice but to wait for the sun to appear. I figured maybe someone around me probably knew when it appeared. I looked around. It was full of nothing but ugly and bizarre plants that had taken strange poses and were dragging themselves along the ground. I turned to them politely and asked:

- Excuse me, can you tell me when I can expect the Sun to appear? I have been on the surface for some time, and it is only raining. I can’t stand it anymore. - Hey, look at him — this joker is interested in the Sun. I think you’ve got the wrong place to show up. Do you see anyone else here needing light and heat? We are weeds and the wetter the weather the better for us. - Sorry, I don’t even know who I am. I don’t know my name or what I look like to know if I belong here. - You’re definitely not our kind. You have too upright a posture, and we naturally walk bent over to survive. Besides, that blonde hair on your head shows you’re probably from some noble family. But see for yourself, look at the raindrop on that pebble next to you. Stretch out your stem and you’ll see yourself.

I stood up and looked at the drop of water. In front of me stood a young face with dark eyes and blond hair. I was a little uncombed, but you could tell I was going to be handsome one day. I smiled to myself. I definitely liked myself. I was sure Sun would like me too.

After I reassured myself that at least I didn’t look as repulsive as the weeds, I decided to close my eyes and go to sleep. I dreamed that when I woke up, the Sun had appeared.

I had the same dream all the time — of waking up to the Sun high in the sky, warming me with its rays. And I knew right then that in an instant I would forget about the hard underground journey and the rain and the wind and the unpleasant weeds.

I opened my eyes and … I felt stronger. I stretched and saw how my leaves had become bigger and my stem stronger. I had also stretched in height because I had much better visibility than before. I thought to myself, “Blessed thing is sleep!” The weeds were gone, and all around me were many blond-haired and black-eyed young boys just like me.

- Hello! You finally woke up. You slept so sweetly that we didn’t dare wake you. You’re very beautiful. A little more and you’ll look like a real sunflower. - A sunflower? Am I a sunflower? - When I look at you like that, there’s nothing else to be. But if you don’t believe us turn to the Sun and ask him yourself. I lifted my head to the sky, whence came a pleasant warmth. At first, the light blinded me, but soon I got used to it and smiled at the Sun. - Hello, Sun! I am glad to see you! If you only knew how long I’ve been waiting for this meeting of ours. There were times when I almost didn’t believe I would live to see you… - Dear friend, you carry the sun within you. It’s no coincidence that you call yourself a “sunflower”. All the time I watched you from behind the clouds and secretly caressed you with my rays to give you the strength to grow up and move on. And here you are, weathering the changes of the weather. Now you see me here in front of you because you are my reflection and you radiate just as much warmth and light as I do. You dreamed of meeting me and here is your dream come true.

After these words of the Sun, I could already feel the change was myself. The difficulties on the way seemed like distant memories. I realized that the best things take the longest to wait for. And once you meet the Sun you realize that it was all worth it and that you will never be the same. To finish, let me give you a little Sunflower advice:

“We were born with a mission to seek out someone who radiates the same light and warmth as we do. So when you are fortunate enough to meet someone who brings the sunshine in, never let them walk out of your life!”

👍 If you like my story and want to read more like this, you can check out the following list:

If you want to receive an email each time I post on my profile, you can follow me and subscribe here. 📩 ✍️

If you like to support me on my writing journey, you can buy me a coffee.☕️ I’d really appreciate it! ❤️️🙏