Pruning Our Lives So We Can Thrive
Mar 16, 2024
We have beautiful tree-lined streets in our neighborhood, and I love this time of year when the white blossomed branches arch over the street and meet in the middle. It's magical! About 3 weeks ago, two workers spent the day trimming the bare branches. These weren't just little branches. Some were very large, and a part of me wanted to be like the Lorax and speak for the trees: Don't cut them back! Don't you know what beautiful blossoms all those branches make? And yet, as I delighted today in the new blossoms, I understood the wisdom in the work they did. They were trimming away unhealthy branches and ones that had grown too low, ensuring safety for the passing cars.
Simplifying. They were simplifying the trees because having lots of blossoms isn't the only priority. Do you -know how many school buses go up and down those roads? They were protecting school children, the Amazon delivery driver, my neighbors, and me!
This month I've been reading the book Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt. He talks about simplifying like this:
"Think of it like gardening. A good gardener doesn’t allow plants to grow wild. Instead, he constantly trims back the plant, cutting off everything that is dead or unhealthy. That’s called pruning. The gardener prunes away until only the most robust parts of the plant remain. Why? Because once all the dead weight is removed, the plant can truly thrive and reach its full potential. The same is true for you. By cutting away the nonessentials, you create space for the things that really matter to flourish."
You create space for the things that really matter to flourish.
Don't you want to flourish too? I want to put forth beautiful blossoms in my life, just like those tree branches. I'm working on creating more space for the things that really matter to me. Sometimes it can be hard to determine what branches are unhealthy and which keep getting in the way of other important priorities. It's worth the effort though.
Come meet with us on Thursday March 21st to talk about the joy that comes into our life from simplifying!
