Even if you had a rocky beginning,

You can still grow tall.

Even if your path is hard,

You can tackle it with your all.

Even if there are days that are less than fun,

You can persevere and rise to the sun.

Nature has a way of illustrating life lessons simply by doing. The tree pictured here never considered the difficulty that it was faced with in it’s quest for life. It did all the right things. It grew. When it hit a rock, it just grew in another direction, never giving any consideration to giving up. It didn’t find the support it needed on this side, so it developed a massive root system on the other side. It knew exactly what it had to do to live a healthy life. It had to have sun so it worked hard to develop into a strong, healthy structure that would take it to everything that it needs for it’s best life. It never wavered just because it’s path was not easy and now, standing tall, it has become everything a tree should be. It gives shade and produces those wonderful phytochemicals that are known to be medicinal when we walk under trees. It has not only provided life for itself by “trusting the process” (David), it provides healing to those around it.

If you have ever felt like you didn’t get a fair shake at life, a rocky beginning, a difficult path, take a lesson from this tree. We have all experienced setbacks and tragedies. We have all faced problems that seemed unmovable. We have all wanted to give up. This experience is common to mankind. It’s what we do with it that counts.

Will you stop short of your destiny and die in the ground, cold and alone? Or will you push hard? Will you decide that it’s just too hard, that it’s easier to wither on the vine than to develop into the majestic being that every one of us is meant to be or will you reach for the sun? Will you exchange your life force for the temporary comfort of ease or will you just keep going in the hard, dark times in order to become a brilliant example of what a person can be and nurture yourself and those around you? You have the key to life in you. It’s your decisions. There are grand, sweeping tragedies that befall us that we don’t seem to have any control over. I’m not talking about those things. They are few, but real and oh, so sad, but most of our life is determined by our decisions. We create ourselves. Push. Stretch. Reach. Fall down and cry, but get up. All that matters is that you keep getting up. Fulfill your potential and never look back. Those rocks don’t mean a thing, except that they made you stronger.