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5 Life Lessons from the Trees

Change is one of my favorite topics, not only because I am convinced that no matter how stable things look, they are always changing; but also because I believe much of our suffering and struggling with life comes from not accepting or not dealing with change in the best way.

I am lucky to live in a very wooded city and as you drive by, there are so many trees that it is always hard to take a peek at the houses or even shopping plazas on the other side, everything is behind a never ending curtain of trees. And during this time of the year, fall in the northern hemisphere they are a living proof of change, cycles, death and renewal.

As they slowly have a partial death their leaves change from the green color little by little to yellow, if you watch closely you can find leaves that have both colors. It is a beautiful sight when some of them are completely covered by only yellow leaves. Then another change begins and these leaves start turning red and falling from the tree, again little by little until one day you see a tree completely naked without a single leave on its branches.

The other day a comment struck me, I listen to somebody say “look at how beautiful those trees look with their leaves completely yellow or red”, and I could not avoid thinking that what seemed a beautiful sight actually was a tree “dying” through the fall and winter to be reborn in spring.

What might create a beautiful and colorful image are actually dead leaves or in the process of dying and that made me think of 5 important lessons from trees that we should apply to our lives:

  1. Change is unavoidable, don’t fight nature, your body and your ideas are always changing, and dying, renewing and new ones will replace the old ones. Every day your body looses millions of dead cells and new ones replace them. Every day, or sometimes little by little your ideas about everything in the world are changing. Don’t get stuck allow change to happen in your life and in your ideas.
  2. Cycles are a part of life, sometimes you are colorful and bearing a lot of fruits, sometimes you are changing, losing your freshness and sometimes you feel completely naked with no fruits, no leaves, no ideas to offer; just recovering for a new cycle. Don’t try to be at your best all the time, cycles are the way your life works take advantage of them, identify then and let them be.
  3. You are part of a wood forest, sometimes your neighbor will be changing faster or slower, you are surrounded by all types of trees, but under the soil we are all nurturing from the same nutrients and we are all aiming to the same sky. Don’t get deceived by looks we are all the same. All human beings are looking for happiness it’s not just you, nobody is against you.
  4. It is never about the tallest or the wealthier or the one that stands apart, it is always about sharing and being part of something bigger, a part of a contribution to the life of others that allows you to renew cycle after cycle. The most rewarding lives are those where the highest achievement has been to influence people and help them have happier lives.
  5. When you die, you are just transforming and your life is the beautiful images that you left behind for others and what you shared with all beings around you. Work hard to make sure that in spite of your cycles and your downs, you are leaving behind beautiful images and ideas for your loved ones and for others. Make your life a passion for seasons, changes, transformations, and whatever you are remember you are who you are here and now…and you will change.

December 19, 2011

Guillermo Mendoza guillermo@impactcoachingsolutions.com +1(832)334-3583

Executive Coach, inspirational international speaker, insightful writer, engaging trainer, empowering individuals and organizations to transform getting the results they want faster and better.

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