Branching Out

You wouldn’t know by looking at it now, but our neighbors' tree used to be really puny and unhealthy.  A couple years ago, there was a huge Maple next to it that had been absorbing all of the nutrients in the soil, dwarfing this tree and blocking most of its sunlight. When that tree succumbed to disease, the neighbors almost had both of them cut down, but the arborist said to just give it time and that this tree would thrive without the other one.

Even the most beautiful plant in the best conditions won't do well if there is something next to it taking everything it needs to grow tall. Maybe it's someone else, something that doesn't serve us anymore (or never did), or maybe it's ourselves. Once we get the junk out of the way, it's important to remember that it will take a little time for us to fill out our space and spread our branches to the sun. But every day, we will get a little bit better, even if it's hard to tell!

You can see that even a couple years later, the tree is a bit bare in one spot, but as time goes on, I bet that will fill out too.

During this season of awakening, may we find inspiration from the nature around us to grow toward something bigger.

Hayley