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Season of Growth |
In New England, you don't need a calendar to know it's the
first week of October. The trees tell the story quite well
as their leaves change from shades of green to the bright
vibrant shades of orange, red and yellow. At the peak of the
fall foliage season, it's truly a magnificent sight that
draws people from all around to behold the beauty. The
season progresses and the leaves fall to the ground one by
one where they become nourishment for the grass, flowers and
gardens in the spring.
As I spent Sunday collecting some of the fallen leaves with
my 7 year old daughter, I wondered what would happen if a
tree stubbornly held onto to its leaves - refusing to let
them fall to ground and nourish the new season that awaits
only a few months from now. How would that tree be affected?
How would the rest of life be affected?
The tree would become burdened by the accumulation of dead
leaves it collected each year. Its branches would begin to
sag under the weight of those useless dead leaves. Future
growth of the tree would be impossible as it ran out of room
for new leaves to bloom in the spring. It would soon lose
its beauty as the lifeless brown leaves cluttered its many
branches.
Eventually the tree wouldn't look like a tree at all but
only a pitiful brown clump waiting to die and fall to the
ground from which it once sprang with such vitality and zest
for life.
And what about the grass, flowers and gardens that use the
fallen leaves as nourishment and further growth in the
spring? Certainly there are other sources of sustenance but
none as natural and readily available as is provided by the
fallen leaves. Instead, they would have to rely heavily on
human intervention for their growth and survival - the tree
no longer offering its own natural gift of nourishment. The
entire circle of life would be burdened by the refusal of
the tree give up that which no longer serves it.
Sometimes we are like that tree. We refuse to give up
beliefs and memories that no longer serve us. We hang onto
them, preventing our further growth and the growth of
others. We become burdened by the accumulation of useless
dead thoughts that should have fallen away long ago to be
used as intellectual and spiritual nourishment. If we're not
careful, we can become - like the tree - a miserable
creature who's lost our vitality and zest for life,
eventually living in quiet desperation, refusing to be a
natural source of nourishment for the rest of the circle of
life.
Spend a few minutes each day this week to think about what
beliefs you're holding onto that may be burdening you -
thoughts that should have fallen away long ago to nourish
yourself and others. Some of them may be very old, dating
back to childhood. For me, one of those useless beliefs came
from the memory of an assault by the town bully when I was 5
years old. Once I finally let go of that belief, it became a
source of further growth for myself and others.
Try this exercise. Watch a movie of your life. The movie
starts with your earliest memory and progresses
chronologically through your life up until now. What
memories stand out as painful and what beliefs did you
create from those memories? Maybe you remember your own
bully or perhaps a time when a parent or guardian was
particularly angry toward you.
Maybe you tried to accomplish something and failed in your
attempt. Perhaps you still carry the guilt of a wrong you
committed against another. Whatever you come up with, write
your thoughts in a journal. Write everything that happened
in the experience and the useless belief you developed from
it.
Then ask yourself how you can use the experience to nourish
yourself and others. What can you learn that empowers you
and others to experience further growth and learning?
Shed those old limiting beliefs just like the trees shed
their leaves in the fall and make ready for the new season
of growth that awaits. Send me an email and tell me what
belief you're going to let fall away this week. I'd love to
hear from you. Have a great week!
Its your life. Create it the way you desire!
-- By Michael Pollock |
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