Today was all right, but tomorrow will be better. I worked hard at certain projects, but neglected others. I’ve accomplished a bit in my life to date, but I truly hope that the best is yet to come.
I’m a work in progress, unfinished business. I’m willing to learn and dedicated to growth, but I’m not there yet.
I make plenty of mistakes, yet try to make sure that they’re new mistakes each time. I get knocked down, but get back up again. As long as I’m heading in the right direction, I’m confident that success awaits me at the finish line.
I’ve been shaped, molded, and somewhat scarred by my experiencesThis wasn’t what I dreamed about as a kid; life then seemed so much simpler. Every day was a new beginning, each new school term rife with fresh possibilities. I truly believed that I could be anything I wanted when I grew up, and acted as if the easy times would roll forever.
It’s tougher now; I have far greater responsibilities and less time for fun. I’ve been shaped, molded, and somewhat scarred by my experiences, and it is much, much harder to change.
Life is a process of growth; you really stop only when you’re dead. As we adapt to circumstances, as we vault hurdles and overcome inertia, we constantly change and grow. Every new experience we encounter, every new acquaintance we make, leaves a remnant in our flesh and soul and transforms us into the people we are.
This week we celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the New Year for Trees. When the Torah compares a man to the trees of the field (Deuteronomy 20:19), perhaps it is referencing this ability to constantly develop and grow. A tree might look rooted and static, yet in truth it is an ever-changing, dynamic organism. Her surface becomes pitted and scarred by the impact of weather and environment, she bends and bows to the vagaries of fate, yet a tree constantly grows.
It’s a nonstop process of change and adaptation. Every moment renders her microscopically larger, every year a new ring. The lesson of a tree is that there is no constant other than growth.
It was easier to notice the change when she was still a sapling; it all seemed so much easier then. Her rate of development, expressed as a percentage of the whole, was so much greater when she was younger, yet it’s still happening, and will continue as long as she lives.
We, too, have a responsibility to strive ever upwards and onwards towards our potential. Growing, flourishing and developing into the people we must become, and living up to the dreams of our youth.
3 Comments
