If tomatoes wanted to be melons

Something i read yesterday touched me. Read it a few more times till it sink in. It has not sank in completely yet :) but its too beautiful to be kept to myself.

Its a poem by Mitsuo Aida (translated by Tim Grant)

Because it has lived its life intensely
the parched grass still attracts the gaze of passers-by.
The flowers merely flower,
and they do this as well as they can.
The white lily, blooming unseen in the valley,
Does not need to explain itself to anyone;
It lives merely for beauty.
Men, however, cannot accept that 'merely'.

If tomatoes wanted to be melons,
they would look completely ridiculous.
I am always amazed
that so many people are concerned
with wanting to be what they are not;
what's the point of making yourself look ridiculous?

You don't always have to pretend to be strong,
there's no need to prove all the time that everything is going well.
you shouldn't be concerned about what other people are thinking,
cry if you need to,
its good to cry out all your tears
(because only then will you be able to smile again).

It is simple and very beautiful. It reminds us of the importance of innocence and to live for "now". Don't live in the past and the future.. but today.

I took this excerpt from Paulo Coelho's Like the Flowing River. Sometimes i read some books again after a few years time to understand it better. At different stages of our life, we grasp things differently.