Roots or Heights In Your Life?

As we look at a beautiful tree, we are amazed at its height.  It is the height that causes us to stop and marvel at nature’s wonder.  We don’t give any thought to the roots that are needed to support that tree.  The seeds become established long before any height rises; otherwise, the tree doesn’t last.  Take the bamboo, which is actually in the grass family.  A bamboo can establish roots up to eight feet before it even begins to poke above the ground.  Imagine growing a bamboo plant and watering it for months and even years before anything happened?  Would you be patient enough to wait if you weren’t aware of the plant’s characteristics?  Would you give up and throw it out, thinking that it was dead?  Bamboo plants can have 40 stalks at once and grow up to five a year.  Much of the growth for these stalks are going on underground unseen.  After months of not seeing any change, some bamboo species can grow 36 inches within 24 hours. That is a rate of almost 1.6 inches an hour, or a growth every 90 seconds.

What can we learn from this?  The roots cause us to be successful, that time that we take establishing character, integrity, and morals that later give us the guiding compass that we need.  Have you ever watched a large building construction?  From the time that the equipment first shows up to when walls begin being erected is usually longer than what it seems to build the entire rest of the building.  Why is that?  The foundation, the footings for the installation are the whole key to the building’s success.  Without some excellent engineering taking place in the ground, the facility will not last.

So it is with us; it is time we spend going over the fundamentals of successful people, establishing our faith, making an effort to understand our roots deeply.  That is why some people get into difficult situations and act poorly, and others rise to the occasion and pull right through.  You could say that your strength to weight ratio is much higher when you establish the fundamentals of good living.  These can include getting enough sleep each night, eating good healthy food, creating your belief system–a faith-based belief, and managing stress.  We always have, pressure and it seems if we don’t have trouble, we tend to find it.  Learn how to work with the fear that you do have in your life.  Find systems that help you each day to feed your roots.  A building stands for decades because of an expertly engineered foundation.

I encourage everyone the next time that you see a beautiful tree, standing tall and proud, take a moment to look for its roots.  Maybe you see them; perhaps you don’t. As we see other people rise in life, and show their success (height), take a moment to examine their roots.  What is behind them?  In many cases, you will find that their root system doesn’t support their place, and soon, they land in a situation where they are exposed.  We see it nearly every day on the news.  Take time to put your roots down in terms of character, integrity, and morals; you will be glad you did once the wind starts blowing.

For more exciting information on the Bamboo plant, see Bamboo – Wikipedia.

For more information related to this, see How to Be A Positive Parent – Dr. Rich Patterson (pattersonphd.com)

Yours for a Better Life,

Rich