Be more like a tree..?

Monday is Earth Day!  Thoughts of Mother Nature are appropriate!

Being more like a tree means…

Reaching for the sky and rooting down deep.

And the deepest roots reported depth is 400 feet by a Wild Fig tree at Echo Caves in South Africa.

On the other hand, there are those tall redwoods…

And having lived on the Pacific Coast, I know that the redwoods (some more than 2200 years old and towering over 300 feet tall!) have remarkably shallow roots reaching only 6-12 feet deep into the soil.

So…what holds these magnificent trees upright in the harsh winds of the coastal climate? Two things:

• Their roots stretch out fifty feet in all directions to give them stability
• AND they grow together in groves so their roots intertwine and support each other.

We too rely on our connections with others as we support each other.

As individuals and as communities, we also share creative ways of growing regardless of the challenges we come up against in our enviroments.

Trees will even grow through rock. And we are similarly resilient, finding creative ways around the obstacles we confront as we move along our paths.

Contemplating the ways in which we mirror trees can enhance our awareness that we too are part of Mother Nature. And we can all learn something from this awareness!

So what lessons have YOU learned?