A Life Lesson From a Tree

Last Friday I knew that I would be entombed in a dark, windowless room, dimly lit only by a bank of television monitors (working A/V at the Small College Hall of Fame Basketball Games). So before I clocked in, I choose to make enough time to take advantage of the absolutely beautiful fall day and take a short hike at Audubon State Park.  That’s where I ran across this tree.

With 1/2 its roots exposed, how has it managed to grow so tall and strong?  The question reminded me of something I read a while back:  The Bio-Dome Experiment. 

It was an exercise in attempting to create the "perfect" living environment for human, plant, and animal life.

A huge glass dome was constructed and an artificial "controlled" environment was created with purified air, water, filtered light, etc, offering the perfect growing conditions for trees, fruits and vegetables ...and humans.  One problem was that when the trees that had been planted there grew to be a certain height, they would simply topple over.

It baffled scientists for the longest time, until one day they realized the one natural element they had forgotten to recreate in the Bio-dome: Wind!  Trees need the wind to blow against them, which in turn causes their root systems to grow deeper into the soil, which in turn supports the trees as they grow taller!

Nature’s wisdom at work.  Be flexible, give thanks for the wind of adversity, grow deep and strong. 

“Trouble is the thing that strong men grow by.  Met in the right way, it is a sure-fire means [of] putting iron in the victim’s will and making him a tougher man to down forever after.” 
                                                                                         —  H. Bertram Lewis

Next time I’m feeling overwhelmed by the strong winds of strife, I’ll know where to go for encouragement:  My old friend at Audubon State Park. 

Carpe Diem Life, 
David Kuhn

CarpeDiem-Life.com