Driving to town a few days ago, I stopped at one of my favorite places and I couldn’t help but notice this huge tree that the river had pushed under the bridge. I love trees and feel some kind of powerful connection with them. I enjoy walking among them, sitting in the shade of one, or even swinging from a tire swing attached to one (no, I am not too old to still do that), but this particular tree stood out to me.
How many times in my life have I just gone with the flow or even felt powerless to fight against the currents in my life? I have felt on the inside what this tree looks like on the outside. Stripped bare with no bark for protection, no leaves, no fruit, not any type of substance to give others. I have felt vulnerable, alone, and at the mercy of whatever way the current moves me.
For instance, years ago, I worked for The Salvation Army and I enjoyed very much helping others, working with my employees, operating thrift stores, organizing and implementing feeding programs, Christmas assistance programs, storm recovery programs, and many other things. I have had days where I felt those were my best days when I made the biggest impact on the world. I felt I contributed and did my best work when I was helping and serving others. Most days now, I make a youtube video, work on my book, write a blog post, feed the animals, etc, and feel my life is very small compared to who I used to be. Back then I was in the forest connected to all of the other trees (working for a social services organization), bearing fruit and providing shelter for my community (I could see the difference I was making in other’s lives), a thriving tree. Now I can see this tree and relate to at one season of life you are planted and growing and thriving, another season you are wedged under a bridge and pushed up against rocks and feel used and stuck.
I did become uprooted (I resigned), I did lose my bark (got divorced), and I might appear to be dead on the outside with no community or influence. That tree looks like it is wedged under a bridge and pushed into rocks and stripped bare from all protection and useless, is also the tree that appears to be wedged under a bridge and pushed up against some rocks so turtles have a resting place from the rising waters and current. It is a landing place for some birds to rest sheltered from the rain, it could eventually be a home for a number of animals or even become firewood to warm a person.
The power of enjoying the season of life you are in allows you to thrive in situations that normally you would not consider fertile. Now, I am remarried and working on each day to enjoy the season of life I am in and accepting that I am now called to serve others in a different way. I still don’t know what way that is, could be by crocheting them a hat, creating a video on youtube, writing a book, or just writing my blog about the hard lessons I am learning in life. Either way, just like that tree that appears to be wedged and dead but is actually providing a resting place, I too may appear to have had the best days behind me, however, I am capable of thriving by just accepting what is and making the most of it.
In my own strange way of saying things, I’m trying to point out that I have learned that when I stop fighting the currents around me, and I stop complaining about my situations and when I take responsibility for where I am, and how I got there, and when I chose to thrive or bloom where I am planted, my life changes.