The Bamboo and the Sprinkler

There’s a story I always come back to — the story of the bamboo and the sprinkler.

A gardener waters bamboo seeds day after day, week after week, year after year. But nothing breaks the surface. No sprouts, no growth, no visible progress. Just effort, time, and patience. Most would walk away. Most would say the seeds are dead. Most would say, “Why are you still watering?” But the bamboo grows differently. It builds its foundation underground — quietly, invisibly. And then, one day, almost overnight, it shoots up into the sky… tall, strong, unstoppable.

That is exactly how Never Give Up Day was born.

I watered this project for years. I kept showing up. I kept believing. Even when I saw no results. No revenue. No momentum. Just silence. But I kept refining it. Improving it. Reinventing it. Every day, I poured energy into it while the world watched with doubt — or didn’t watch at all. I knew what people thought. “He’s chasing a dream that’s not working.” “It’ll never take off.” Maybe even, “He’s lost it.”

But that’s what the never give up moment truly is.

It’s not the moment when you’re steps away from the finish line.
It’s not when everyone is clapping and cheering and telling you to keep going.
It’s when there is no finish line in sight — and no one else sees it but you.

That’s the test.

Because if you hold on, if you continue — in the dark, in the unknown, in the silence — that’s when something powerful begins to shift. And then, one day, what was once called madness will be called vision. What was once dismissed as obsession will be praised as commitment. And what no one saw coming will rise like bamboo.

Never Give Up Day is not just a date.
It’s not just a celebration.
It’s a message. A reminder. A call to every person, every dreamer, every creator who’s been quietly watering their bamboo.

Keep going. Keep watering.

Because when it rises, it will be stronger than anyone imagined.

Alain Horoit / Founder of Never Give Up Day