There once lived a mango tree in a village full of apple farms. It is the only mango tree in that whole village. Not only is it the only mango tree, but also a rare variety among mango trees too. Its fruits have a beautiful golden colour and have the sweetest taste and aroma. The mango tree is a dear little child of nature and nature loved it and nurtured it with love.

However, since the villagers are fond of apples, very few cared about the mango tree despite its sweetest mangoes. They always ridiculed it for not growing apples which made it further sad. Despite being a rare mango tree, it always felt sad for not getting enough love. Soon that sadness turned into self disappointment for not being able to produce apples. It knows that this feeling is just a reflection of the ridicule it faces each day.

It knows that it can only give mangoes, but, in a desperate attempt to gain some love, it tried to grow apples. First it tried to change their shape and then their taste and soon was able to make some changes to its fruits. But, little did it realise that its fruits are losing their shape and taste and are growing badly. In its desperate attempt for human affection, it started losing its own nature. Soon birds also stopped visiting it as its fruits are getting bad day after day.
The tree was still the dearest child of nature and nature tried to nurture it and protect it. But, the tree’s emotional pain made it weaker and weaker inside. Its leaves started to wither away and soon its fruits stopped growing altogether. The mango tree was dying from inside. Within a season, it left its last breath and became an empty trunk with lifeless branches.

Despite being the rarest variety of the mango trees, it never felt loved enough. It was constantly ridiculed for what it doesn’t have instead of being loved for its beautiful gifts. If only it was in a place where they know how rare and valuable it is, it’d have become their most loved tree.

This is not just a story of that mango tree, it is a story of numerous people. As a society we all make this mistake of expecting apples from a mango tree and call it growth mindset. Growth mindset is when we expect a weak mango tree to grow into a huge tree with a lot of sweet mangoes. It’s not growth if we expect it to bear apples. We have many people in society with beautiful nature, but, they also constantly get ridiculed for not having other qualities that society wants them to have. They all desperately try to fit into the views of society, even though they feel miserable inside for not getting accepted and loved despite having beautiful nature.

Wouldn’t the world be a beautiful place if we accept people for who they are and nurture each other to become our best versions?

This is a story dedicated to all those under appreciated but beautiful souls out there. Don’t worry, someday someone will appreciate you and love you for who you are. Don’t lose hope like that mango tree, have a great day ahead.