I
have come to take great joy in the simplest of things; trees. I love their tenacity to grow in to these
big, strong entities. As a boy I took
pleasure in climbing them and as a man I take pleasure in their majestic,
symmetric stance.
When
travelling (on the ground) I am always fascinated by them; whether huddled
together in woods, groves and forests or when proudly standing in the middle of
a field where their exuberance stands, solitarily, for all to see.
A
lot can be learned from trees. For
example, in order to grow so tall, broad and strong, it takes a great deal of
work that is not seen by the eye; underground is a root system that ensures the
stability of its future growth. They
have to dig down deep and secure themselves whilst striving to reach for the
sky. Another example is the fruit they
bear. If you want the fruit of the tree
you have to move away from the stability of the strong, secure trunk of the
tree to get it. The lesson learned? To enjoy some of the fruits of life, you will
have to go out on a limb in order to get them.
Mother
Nature, it seems, is always trying to tell us things. I am not sure what her message is regarding
her persistent insistence to ‘torture’ us all with this ongoing and seemingly
never ending winter that is ever present here in Ontario, Canada. Perhaps she is teaching us about persistence
itself; from acorns, do mighty oak trees grow.
Regarding
persistence; I have often found it difficult to make (or take) the time to
write the two blogs a month that I committed to when I started going public
with my writings last year in May of 2012.
Now, as I look back over the year, I am quite proud of myself for my own
tenacity. It is that tenacity which has
afforded me the persistence to actually do it.
Looking
back, I have done what I said I would do.
Looking forward, I am not going to commit to doing the same for the
following twelve months. Why? I truly am far busier than I ever thought I
would be. I have had the good fortune,
over the past year, to enjoy travel, teaching, speaking engagements and the
ability to commute downstairs to my home office and work on many projects for
clients, in the aviation industry; a lucky man by all accounts.
My
tenacity for work has led me down a path I did not expect; a tremendous
work-load that requires more of my time than I had initially wanted or expected. Just as a tree is symmetrically balanced, I
need to work on having balance in my life.
Ahead, I see a lot of travel and busier times. It is for that reason I will not make the
same commitment for the coming year. I
still hope to write, but I will not commit to two blogs being published every
month. I don’t even know if this stuff
gets read! Well, that’s not strictly
true; I am astounded that people all over the world are reading this dribble.
The
tree is patient in its growth and I, too, have to be patient in my quest to be
able to write for a living. Though it
may not happen, it will always be my dream and I will never give up on it.
Just
as a strong wind will take down a tree if it has not got sufficient roots
underfoot in its foundation, so it is for me; my foundations for a better life
require self-discipline, focus on the task in-hand and most importantly it
requires balance. I cannot allow the
winds of change to blow me off course or, worse still, blow me over so that I
lie on the ground with my inadequate roots exposing my lack of stability for my
own future personal and professional growth.
Growth
takes time and patience; and it would appear that getting through this winter
requires the same!