I'm feeling very story-full today.
This one I actually wrote part of. I ended the story in a different way. I wrote this a very long time ago, but I still believe that no matter how many times I fall, I can get up and make the next right choice. I hated the original story because it ended without hope. At the time when I was reading the original story, hope was something for which I had to grasp every day. I needed to be reassured that it wasn't too late. Since then, I have seen and felt the reality that for some, it was too late. I hate reality. Sometimes, I side with Garrison Keilor who said, "I believe in looking reality square in the eyes and denying it." This has been one of the most heart-wrenching life lessons that I have watched unfold before me. Sometimes, I can be mindful of this pain before making a foolish choice of my own, but other times, I mess up and ignore the grim reality that we only get one body, one life, one chance. I choose hope and I will always choose hope; for myself and for all of us.
I love trees. Anyone who knows me, even just a little, knows that I love trees. This story is about trees, so I naturally was drawn in by its message. Sometimes taking the humanity out of our own stories seems to invalidate our suffering, other times, such as in this story (at least for me), the depersonalization illustrates a beautiful picture who's image is permanently branded on to our hearts. For me, the connection to the earth that is created by this story reminds me of how deeply and intricately woven together we all are not just to each other, but to the very earth upon which we walk.
It's not too late yet. Change is possible if we embrace how wonderful and uniquely beautiful each and every one of us truly has been created. No one says to a tree, "you aren't beautiful because you don't look just like that other tree." So, why do we expect that we should look just like another? There are no two trees that are identical, yet we have no trouble accepting the beauty that these differences create as we admire forests full of unique trees. Why can't we do this with each other? Without imperfections and differences, I believe that beauty itself would disappear.
So, enough of that...here's the story about the trees.
Mandi
(original story) -author and title unknown
Once upon a time there was a gardener who loved small trees. He didn’t like trees that were tall and full—only small and dainty ones, and he planted all varieties of them in his grove. One year he noticed a young tree coming up that he hadn’t planted. Normally, he grew only the trees that he had carefully selected, but this tree had leaves that were a nice almond shape and a trunk with nice texture and lovely coloring, so he decided to let it stay. The tree grew, and the gardener became unhappy because it wasn’t small like the others, but had a large trunk and full branches. So, he decided that he would make this tree small like the others. First, he chopped off its long and bushy branches and cut its trunk to a shortened height. Then, he stopped giving it water regularly as he did the other trees and built a shade around it so that it wouldn’t get so much sun. He believed that if he held back nourishment, the tree would stop growing and become small and dainty like the other trees in his grove. Gradually, the tree did stop growing, but instead of becoming a small, dainty tree, it became a large tree that never grew. Its trunk was full and ready to support many branches, but they had all been cut away. The sparse new growth it had managed to generate without proper sun and water was spindly and unhealthy. One day when the gardener stopped by, he saw the leaves had become thin and curled. The trunk that had been large and tall now looked silly at the shorter height. The gardener shook his head sadly and said, “What have I done? Instead of creating the tree I wanted, I have ruined the tree I had.”
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continued.... the hope for us all.
by Mandi Degner
***(the ending that we all deserve...and my outlook on it all!)****
The gardener sat quietly among the array of trees with whose beauty he had been so consumed for as long as he could remember. This time, however, it seemed as if all these other trees faded into the background as he stared in pain at the sickly tree. As he stared, a tiny bud on that spindly tree captured his gaze. “Could there be hope? Can this tree start over?" He wondered, “Is it even worth my time? Is it too late?” A twinge of hope tugged the gardener to try.
Every day, the gardener took special time to care for this tree just as he tended to the others. Knowing this would probably not be easy or quick, and somedays he doubted heavily, but the gardener kept patient. Diligently, he watered the tree and nourished it daily with extra care and fertilizer. The gardener never went near this tree with his pruning shears again. At first, the tree seemed to fade faster and faster even with the intense and special attention. The tree still looked sick, and the gardener became frustrated. “Stay strong,” he whispered, even though some days he wondered if this was even worth it.
After many months, the tree began to lift its once downcast limbs, buds turned to leaves, and new branches grew! Although much different from the other trees, the gardener saw beauty and uniqueness in this tree. In the spring, the blossoms of the revived tree opened to reveal vibrant, strong, and beautiful flowers that he had never seen before. “Look what I would have missed!” He cried, “If I would’ve settled for ruining the tree, and just cut it down no one would have ever seen such beauty! Look at the beauty that has come from such pain!”
Under the leaves and new growth of the tree are still scars from the pruning shears, but they fade as new branches and leaves continue to grow. Whichever way the tree grows does not matter because the tree is vibrant and alive, thus reminding the gardener that painful mistakes don’t have to stay painful. “I could have ruined one of the most beautiful trees, but it wasn’t too late.”
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