Bamboo and Personal Fitness Results

There is an old saying about growing Bamboo:

The first year it sleeps
The second year it creeps
The third year it leaps!

I was thinking about bamboo on my run today.  If you plant bamboo in your garden it will take about three years before the bamboo shoots up to a significant height.  Which means that for a significant period of time as the plants gain strength nothing much can be seen of that strength.  The bamboo is getting stronger but no one can see that happening.  The bamboo's potential for great growth and beauty is not visible.  It's only after a somewhat long period of time before anyone can see the results of all the hard work that was going on under the surface for such a long period of time.  And then during the third year, after the bamboo has shot up to a great height, you hear people saying "Wow, what a beautiful bamboo garden, I didn't know you planted one!"

That's kind of the same thing that happens when you start a personal fitness routine.  You train hard every day and those around you don't see any immediate visible results.  Even though a lot of hard work has taken place for a long period of time.  And then after months and months of hard training and correct eating, you start hearing people say "Wow, you really look great, have you been working out?" 

Isn't it funny how much a person can change and grow before anyone else recognizes the beautiful changes and the great amount of growth that has taken place?

A lot of our personal growth happens on the inside, well out of sight of the casual observer.  I guess that's just the natural way of things. 

The same way that the bamboo grows.