Resilience

On one of my morning walks, I came across this magnificent beauty hovering over the blue skies. I stopped on my track. “Hello big fella. How are you today?” The Lorikeets were

happily hopping on its branches. I ran my fingers over its smooth yet scarred skin. Battered

with age, temperature, human endeavours and who knows what, the tree has grown

wonderfully and provides shelter and food. It’s amazing how resilient this tree is.

Resilience is “an ability to recover or adjust easily to misfortune or change” (Online

Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2019). Just imagine what this tree may have endured growing

up, the scorching Sun, lack of rain, damages done by human hands and the pain of growing!

The list goes on.

Sometimes life could be like travelling on a dirt road; the dust, ditches and humps can feel

like too much to handle. If you are going through a hard patch in life, a broken heart,

redundancy, adjusting to change, just remember your journey is not yet over. If this Gum

tree has given up growing, it wouldn’t be standing here majestically today. “Out of suffering

have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” (Kahlil Gibran).

I put my arms around the Gum tree. Felt its cool bark against my face. A line of black ants

made their way towards the tree top, the birds are bit quieter now. The tree embraced me with the same fondness it has for everyone. It stood silently swaying in the wind.

You might be walking in a dark valley today. But remember, one day you will be like this

mighty Gum tree: helping others to find shelter and heal their aching wings.

xoxo

quotation curtesy

Merriam – Webster online dictionary, 2019. Available at: https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/resilience

Gibran, Kahlil (1938) Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/