13 - Diego B: The Life of Trees

When faced with adversity, our instincts inform us to accept whatever comes our way and to accept the consequences which might come our way since it would be too difficult to prevent otherwise. This is how our mentality functions, but it is not the way that it should. Trees are like humans—developing, prospering, growing individuals, both physically and characteristically. Every second of experience and understanding of the world surrounding us enlarges our character and scope of the world. Like a tree, too, we grow from saplings which we call childhood, until we stand tall with pride, ambition, and independence. But how did trees come to be what they are today if they have been constantly rocked by the elements? How did trees grow up to become extensive and impressive when their lives were rife with storm and disaster? A tree, unlike a human, will always have the agency of taking deeper roots when storms strike. When adversity strikes a human, they are merely provided a decision whether to address it or not. Perhaps the reason why so many trees in life succeed and why we humans observe so many of us fall off course in life is due to the voluntary nature of decisions which we encounter in our lives. In this respect, we should resemble more like trees than humans who are afraid to encounter and address adversity in our lives. Adversity is inevitable in our lives, and ignoring or not committing ourselves to these adversities, we will find no success in our futures. Instead, it closely resembles the life of trees, which by managing adversity constantly, mature to become plentiful, large, and independent.