What two trees taught me.

The Tale of Two Trees

I want to tell you the tale of two trees and how they changed my life. In the picture you see one on the left and one on the right. Take a moment and think about them. Draw some conclusions about them. Pick one to be your favorite. You can change your mind later. That’s one of the beautiful things about your mind; you get to change it. It’s like I always say, “A bad decision can always be followed by a good one.”

I was there when those trees were planted. You see this was my first home. I bought it as a single parent with two wonderful children in 2001. I did $10,000 in sweat equity on it so I could keep the payment where I could afford it. I was so blessed to be able to make a home for Max and Erin where we would never have a landlord raise the rent on us. It was our home, and I loved it. I digress.

As part of the codes and covenants for the subdivision, I had to plant these two trees. They’re pretty yes? I thought so too. About a year after they were planted, a little neighbor boy broke the trunk of the one on the left. He and his father planted a new one for me. I watched as the father explained to his son the importance of doing the right thing. I watched them dig the hole and put the new tree in. So many lessons learned that day.

The next spring, I came home to find the tree broken again. This time no one claimed responsibility for it. I choose to leave the stump and see what would happen. For two years nothing showed. I thought about digging it up many times, but for some reason never got around to it. The third year a little sprout began to grow. Within eight years it became the tree you see in the picture. The tree on theright is still the same size. It has some more leaves. It is a little fuller then when it was planted, but it is basically the same tree and it has three years of growth on the other one.

The tree on the left had adversity and struggle. It had hardships it had to overcome. It was forced to grow. The one on the right, not so much. It always had the sun and water it needed to grow, but it didn’t grow. It stayed basically the same. Is there a metaphor here? Yes, I think there is.

If you are going through a hard time right now, that’s okay. Use this time to grow deeper roots. Use this time to stretch yourself and see what you are really made of. Learn new skills and new ways of dealing and adapting. Ask yourself, “What is the lesson I need to learn here?” If you do this, I promise you that you will be better for it.

You will learn what you need to learn to become the person you are dreaming of. I was thinking of Joseph from the Bible yesterday. You may know him as the boy with the amazing colored coat. (There is a play called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat.)I realized the adversity he went through was preparing him for his role of saving millions of lives. If he had not learned what he needed to learn and kept his faith in God, he never would have made it to where he needed to be.

God has a plan for you as well. Everyone has a purpose and a destiny that only they can fill. I don’t know what yours is, but I do know that if you keep learning and growing you will reach it. I know that if you fight through the difficult times, the good times are just ahead. I know if you learn what you need to learn and you grow to become a bigger person more will flow to you.

Hang in there you got this.

Have a wonderful and prosperous day,