Hi guys, welcome to episode 214 of the wildly successful lifestyle podcast!
I really feel this episode and I hope you will as well. I journal every morning as you know and after I journal on one little page I turn the page and on the back I do a quick little sketch. For a long time my sketch would be a tree of some sort. It has lately been 2 stick people and they are having a conversation of some sort. I switched over from the trees because I would get so involved in drawing my tree that it could take me away from my day for over an hour! And I have too many things I want to accomplish and being an artist isn’t really one of them. But my love for trees is still strong.
So the meditation I followed this morning Jeff was talking about imagining yourself as a tree with your roots running deep and breathing in the good energy and minerals of the tree and the earth. That may be a bit out there for some of you I know. But the reason why I’m telling you that is to think about a tree. So much of what’s good in this world has come from nature. And we have learned so much from nature.
Our organic designs, wind and solar energy, mimicking materials nature uses like filters and Velcro. All inspired by nature, those are just to name a few. But a tree has so much to teach us. Namely resilience. Resilience of a tree is remarkable. We had an ice storm recently and trees really are tested when they are coated with a thick layer of ice. Weak points usually don’t do well. But all over town you see trees with large broken limbs in some cases half the tree torn off because the weight of the ice is too much but the base of the tree and the other portion of the tree weathered the storm and stayed strong and tall and will continue to be ok even though it has gone through a pretty traumatic event.
A few years ago we were doing some landscaping in our backyard. We have a lot of trees back there but we have a fence line and there were bushes along the fence line that look like little trees but I didn’t love the way they looked because they looked messy so I wanted them to be removed. Our arborist said well I’m going to cut them back down to the top of the root and then when you decide what you want they will be able to just dig the roots up and plant new trees so he did.
He cut them completely down to the ground where I didn’t see it. I had trouble deciding what I wanted there because there’s so much shade so I just let it be for a while. And then one day I noticed oh my goodness these little trees are growing back and I watched over the next few months I watched as these little sprouts of green popped up on each root and over the next couple of years I watched them grow back just as strong as they were but now I’m in awe of them so I want to keep them just as they are to remind me of the power of nature and the resilience of a strong well rooted tree.
I want you to picture yourself as a tree.
Maybe you feel right now like the trees from the ice storm where they’ve lost a limb. Eventually that tree seals off that area that has been damaged so that it doesn’t affect the rest of the tree. It will survive and it may be difficult for a time but it will survive and it will get better and eventually it will be a scar or a memory. The same goes for us right?
When I was younger and I would see a tree damaged by a storm I would think oh no they’ll have to cut it down but most of the time it does just fine but to our primitive brain it can seem like the end of the world when something bad happens, our brain gives us thoughts that this is permanent, we will never survive, we will never be happy again, never thrive again, but like the tree there we are still standing, able to thrive again eventually and stronger for it. Experience will teach you that.
Or maybe you’ve had a major life event where you feel like my little bushes that were cut down to the root, and yes part of me feels bad but I’ve grown from it and they’re thriving so everyone settles down, but maybe you feel you’ve been cut off at the knees. And it feels like you’re not going to survive it and then there’s a little hint of comfort or peace for a moment and then it goes away and then another moment of peace and then it slowly keeps growing and eventually you make your way back to being able to thrive, and be happy, maybe even stronger than before.
You’re still here for a reason. Let that give you strength. Knowing that it’s not an accident that you’re here. Feel empowered and strong because you lived through something really hard and maybe you’re strengthening someone else and you don’t even know it. Maybe you’re breathing life into someone else because you’re able to still be strong. Here’s the thing about Trees: Trees that live among other trees live way longer and are much healthier than a stand alone tree. They intertwine their roots to get stronger, they block the wind and share the sun, they hold water and share the water they need those other trees to thrive, they do better as a group. We are social creatures. We do better in a group.
Don’t isolate yourself. It’s not a badge of honor to take everything on alone. If there’s any lesson that is worth taking from a tree it’s to lean into your community. Maybe your blood family isn’t that great. Find a community that you thrive in. Tony Robbins always says “Love your family, choose your peers”. Lately I feel like our society is trying to move away from connecting in person. Don’t do it. That isn’t gonna work. The happiest people, the people that live the longest and are the happiest lean into their communities not away from them.
Maybe You have an awesome family, lean into them , if they aren’t so hot then lean into your church family , your work team, your coaching team, your gym friends, your hobby group, seek your group out and lean into it.
The trees that do the best are in the company of other trees that actually lend help when it’s needed.
It’s ok to be strong on your own sometimes but It’s also ok to need help sometimes too. We are stronger in groups just like trees. We can also stand on our own and must even. Just like a tree. The deeper our roots are, the stronger we are. The more storms we’ve weathered the stronger we are.
While I’m on a roll…Trees also don’t wish they were somewhere else or something else. They understand their own beauty and uniqueness. A magnolia tree doesn’t wish it were an oak tree. A palm tree doesn’t wish it lived in Alaska. Can you imagine? Trees just live authentically who they are. An oak tree doesn’t try to grow a magnolia flower, it doesn’t even cover it. It just stands in its own beauty and strength. Just as beautiful and strong in its own way. You’re beautiful in your own way too. We get sideways when we compare yourself to someone else, that never works out well. Just be who you are.
So if you’re going through a tough time right now..imagine yourself like a tree. No matter what you’re going through there’s a lesson there for you. There’s a lesson there for me. For all of us. You’re resilient, you’ll be stronger for weathering those storms, maybe it’s preparing you so that you can block the wind for a friend in need or storing water for a friend that is going through a drought. Never underestimate your own power but also the power of having a community to lean into when you need it and be leaned on when someone else needs it. And finally be authentically you. You’re perfectly created and you’re here for a reason.
You may not know it but there may be someone within your reach that needs to hear this today. Share it with at least 3 people and it will find its way there.
I love you guys. I’ll talk to you in a few days.
