There is a weeping willow tree in my front yard. A “Mary Poppins” tree as my children used to call it. It used to be grand and elegant with its branches swinging in the wind. My children have special memories of playing under its canopy of green with neighborhood friends. Last year I began to notice some of the branches looked bare. After windy thunderstorms there would be dry branches strewn about the yard. Our weeping willow tree was dying and yes, I was sad because this tree represented so many happy memories of my children growing up. With spring now here, the tree looks barren, dry and lifeless. I’ve had to debate, should I cut it down?
Often in life there are failures, times when it seems nothing more can be done. Sometimes this accompanies thoughts of giving up – on this relationship, this job, this situation, etc. And then when it seems as if all is lost, something changes. New insight is given or a new way of looking at the matter is revealed. Hope is reborn.
Last week I walked by the weeping willow tree and noticed three green buds each on different branches. It puzzled me. Now a few days later, I see that tiny new branches are sprouting from the parts of the tree that looked the most lifeless. And yes, even though just a tree, albeit a special tree, it has reminded me of an important life lesson.
All of us undergo hardships in our lives. We often feel stuck and growth seems an impossibility. And yet, when least expected and sometimes in the most unusual of ways at the point of giving up, growth buds forth. Imperceptible at first to our own eyes, this new growth is fragile and needs to be nurtured as it strengthens in time. New growth can come from what seems like a failure in the most unexpected of ways and in the most unusual of timing.
As C.S. Lewis says, “Failures are but finger posts on the road to achievement.”
goingoffthementalgrid says:
Julianne….you rock!