Another Serving of Maple

So like I said the other day, my Maple tree is in full helicopter mode and is dropping tens of thousands of seeds and this tree does this every year. Okay, one year we had a late freeze and it killed all the seeds, flowers and the like so we didn’t have seeds or fruit or nuts for that matter-but every single one of those trees made up for it the next year by doubling their output.

So here is the lesson to be learned from a tree; well, one lesson because there are actually more lessons to be learned from trees than just one. The Maple ‘births’ as many seeds as it can, it lets them drop and scatter to the earth-that is its job, to multiply itself. But of those thousands and thousands of seeds how many do you think actually grow into Maple trees? Very, very few. But does the Maple stop developing and disseminating seeds? Heck no! The Maple does what it is supposed to do-it puts out the seeds, it is up to the universe to bring those seeds to the right place.

You are no different; your only job is to do the best you can and trust that the universe will do the rest. Some of your ‘seeds’ will fall on poor soil, some will fall to the wrong place at the wrong time but some will fall in the right place, at the right time and you will see your harvest. But you have to keep putting out the seeds!

Maple Fandago

There is a massive Maple tree that shades my house. I am not a fan of this tree in spite of the shade it provides because it is not a strong tree so it often loses branches, some that are large. It also causes the soil under it to be acid so that it is a challenge to grow anything, including grass, under it, not to mention the leaves in the fall. But the thing that really puts it in the category of trees I am not a fan of is the seeds, commonly referred to as ‘helicopters’ around here. This tree drops literally millions of these helicopters every spring, which requires a lot of effort and a few trips up on the roof of the house. But I don’t hate this tree, I don’t think about killing it just because I am not a fan and I don’t ordinarily even talk about this tree, I bring it up today because right now it is in full helicopter mode and today is a rather breezy day so those seeds are flying everywhere. And as those seeds drop from the tree they tend to spin around hence the name helicopter.

I was standing out in the yard, watching these seeds fly around and I decided to try to catch one as it fell. I decided to do this because when I was watching the seeds falling I remembered a story that Joel Osteen told about trying to catch falling leaves while he was out jogging one day. He said the more he tried the less success he had and then when he quit trying and just continued on his run, a leaf just fell right into his hand without any effort on his part whatsoever.

And yes, the exact same thing happened for me; a helicopter would seem to be spinning right into my hand and then abruptly change course so I would miss it. Finally, I just held my hand out and allow a seed to fall into it. Now, that didn’t happen instantaneously, I had to hold my hand out for a couple of minutes, but when I stopped trying to force cooperation, and just allowed, just exercised a bit of patience, I got my helicopter.

I knew that if I just trusted, the supply was definitely there and all I had to do was be there and ready to receive it and voila’ there it was.

While I was waiting for my seed several thoughts occurred to me so I will be posting more about my Maple tree which makes me think maybe I should become a fan-lol.

Irresistible?

Someone told me that they wanted me to post again about resisting, so here goes;

Think of a river; can you swim upstream? If you are a strong swimmer you can swim, not far, not fast and if you slow down or stop you will be back where you started or maybe even further ‘behind’. Can you swim straight across? You might be thinking yes, but this one is tricky because to swim straight across you would have to be swimming upstream while swimming across otherwise the current would take you downstream. To swim across you must determine where you want to ‘land’ on the other side and either hike upstream and swim across while the current takes you toward your predetermined landing spot or just start swimming and land wherever you land. Can you swim downstream? Yes, faster and with less effort.

So trying to force your will on the universe is swimming upstream. And in a way so is trying to go straight across. Only when you work with what you already have; i.e. the current, do you stop resisting and start going with the flow. And just like the river’s current, when you go with the flow of your life you will find that what you accomplish is done with less effort and more speed than in any other way. This does not mean that you just drift through life, it means that you don’t try to impose your will, it means that you look for the opportunities and go with them. Nuff said?

Think Like A Bird?

I have had a subscription to Birds and Blooms magazine for a number of years now and if you are not familiar with that magazine, it features many letters and photos from readers and their backyard birding experiences. Sometimes those stories are about rare sightings of birds far from their normal ranges and sometimes the stories are of rescues but the stories I want to talk about today are the ones that share unusual places that birds may choose to nest.

A number of readers have shared about birds building nests in the pockets of clothes hanging on a clothesline to dry; some are about birds building in flower pots and too many other places to mention but the one thing all of those chosen nesting sites have in common is that the birds built those nests in expectation. Not a single bird feared that the site chosen was not viable because they saw the site as opportunity so they didn’t take any time to think fearful thoughts.

And guess what? There were in fact, some nests that were destroyed, nests it had taken much time and effort for the birds to build. And what did they do when their nests were destroyed? Did they give up and never build another nest? Never! Some built in the exact same spot and some moved to a new location but they did not quit just because it didn’t work out for them the first time. Why is that? Because they were determined to do what nature intended and that is to move forward in life, just the same as it is for all of us.

Take a Look

I woke up this morning with the phrase; what’s playing on the screen is what’s in the projector. Now I know that I have shared that phrase before but I have found that the people around me usually have much in common as do the people around you, that’s just the way it is; like attracts like, so I also know that if I wake up with a phrase like that its for a reason.

Everyone, no matter how much personal development they do, still has days that are less than pleasing to them. Sometimes it is because they have not been paying attention and have put the wrong film in the projector.

So take a look at what is showing up on your screen; it is your thoughts that are showing up in your life and if what you are seeing is not what you want, take responsibility for what is in the projector and put in a new film.

Seems Like Old Times

I know that I haven’t been writing this blog for all that long really and yet it also seems like I say the same thing over and over to infinity. Why is that? It’s because most of you can’t hear it enough, and that is because we must have constant positive content to counteract the negative input we receive daily. Yeah, I know, sad but true.

That’s also why most people will tell you to have big goals and small ones because the small ones are usually easy and you don’t get shut down if a road block pops up-and road blocks are always there. Sometimes they are just little bumps in that road but sometimes they are huge and a major detour has to be made but for most people the tools for staying in belief just aren’t there without some help from people who inspire and encourage you. And those people have to be the people who never get tired of saying the same thing over and over to remind you that you can do it, you do have what it takes and you can have what you want.

And maybe they are also supposed to remind you to pass that message on to others along the way.

Thanks Giving!

Sometimes people have to lose everything-or almost everything-before they start to take a look around and see what they have to be grateful for. Sad I know but what is even sadder is that most of what they lost is usually because of their resistance.

What do I mean by that? It’s simple really; many people decide how a thing should happen and then fight to make what they want happen the way they want it to happen. By doing that they often resist the good that might come their way and miss out on the very opportunities that would help them realize all their goals.

So here are my two points for today; be grateful for what you have and be aware that opportunity often comes as Thomas Edison put it; Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

You might think that what you want will come to you in a suit and look all professional and all but you could be surprised, it might just be in those overalls.