Humans! Quite an interesting species! A confusing species at that!When I was younger, they treated me like their friend.  They first put me in a small box, and transferred me to a larger sunnier spot as I grew bigger. As a seedling, these humans fed me with all the nutrients they could find, and made sure my bed was soft and moist. After a while, they abandoned me.  Left me to the elements. It got colder, then my leaves started turning from green to yellow, some a reddish color. I was horrified! What was happening to me?  Why was this happening? I asked, but all the humans avoided me. They went indoors. Then it got colder and windy. My leaves started falling off ! I could not fathom what was going on! And here I was, out in the cold, naked, and with no one caring for me! Is this what growing up meant? Or was I dying? I feel cold…and sleepy… sooooo sleeeepyyy…..

The above was a conversation I had inside my head as I took a walk in my neighborhood and observed the trees, as I took in God’s creative magnificence of nature. This time the object of  my awe and wonder were the trees. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some were pine trees and had lost a lot of their needles. The fruit trees such as the apple trees, had already lost all their leaves. red, orange and yellow leaves littered the ground.

That is what I could see with my physical eyes. But within me, I heard a different conversation. A sad sleepy voice from the trees. I stopped by a crab apple tree, broke off a branch. It appeared dead, but was it? It snapped. The outer part seemed dry, but inside was fresh. Ooops, I just added to this tree’s misery by cutting the life of one of it’s branches short. It will never be a part of this tree again! Did it feel the pain? Will my seemingly simple act of plucking lead to its demise? It should wake up from the deep winter slumber when the weather warms up, not so? They always do!

As I stood and listened more to the sleepy sounds from the crab apple tree and the others around it, I realized how much I enjoy their shelter from the scorching sun as I take my nature walks, but I never stop to thank them! They give off pure oxygen which I then breathe in, and as I exhale carbon dioxide, I don’t even pay attention to the symbiotic relationship we have! I should honor these beings more. Even as they go into their deep winter slumber, and as their breath slows down, they still honor their role in the relationship, by giving me the oxygen I so need to stay alive, and take in the oxygen I exhale, only to transmute it again to oxygen! I suddenly realize that these trees are ignored more than they should be celebrated!

Ahhhhh….these humans! I guess they are good for giving me he carbon dioxide I need to take in to maintain my simple functions. They ignore me, pluck my branches, as when I try to recover from my wintry slumber, they are checking my buds for signs of life! I love that sleep as it helps me to rest and reserve my energy for when I bring forth new life. I enjoy making new leaves after that silly autumn wind blew all my hard work away! I will prove to these humans that I still have life in me. I will show them what I got! Flowers and fruit, and then I will finally regain their attention. Yet once my fruit is here, they cant wait to pluck off as much as they can. I guess they need the nourishment as I cannot eat my babies_the crab apples! Who the heck named them that any way?? Crab apples indeed! They are not even shaped like crabs! Sigh! Oh well, I guess I better focus on why I am here…give them shelther, food, and…and…oh oxygen!

Did I just hear the crab apple tree whisper something to me? Well I guess I better start paying attention to her. I think she is a girl as she bears fruit! Most importantly, I think she has so much to teach me and its important that I document what I am learning from these magnificent beings of life.

I am realizing that this grown missus of a tree started humbly as a seed. The seed died and then emerged as a little seedling. She took advantage of where she was planted and/or transplanted, what resources she had, and bore fruit! She did not remain a seed or seedling…she continued to grow! All this, despite the weather changes including surviving the cold, wintry nights! Each year she cowers down, not because she is scared, but she adopts the posture that allows her to slow down on the outside, and focus on the inside! I want to be just like her!! Grow and bear fruit with what I am given!

I suddenly realize that it doesn’t matter how humble I was raised, what matters is how I took advantage of the situations I was given. I need to pick a leaf from this tree and take time to do inner work so that I can bud anew, flower and bear new fruit! Slowing down in a way that allows me to grow inside so that I can serve others, is a crucial component of my walk as an Energy Healer. Energy healing can be draining at times, and self care such as taking tie off for me is significant in rejuvenating and recharging my essence.

See, just by paying attention to this crab apple tree, I am learning so much! I hear a whisper….

I am taken care of by the Higher Consciousness or God. Even when there is no human to give me water, God provides moisture in form of rain or snow. All I need to do is be. All I have to do, is allow! If the rain doesn’t come out, I just stand here majestically trusting that at the right time, my thirst will be quenched. The dark nights don’t scare me either…the sounds do though…. but still, I do not run indoors looking for light. I remain outside, where I was planted, and wait majestically, trusting and knowing full well,  that when morning comes, so will the sun! And I will open my leaves to receive, this glorious gift from God, that I am given just because I am.

Whoa! I keep being blown away by this crab apple tree. I guess all tress would say the same…I think so! All I need to do is be? Allow? Why then do I sometimes panic and feel like I am suffocating when things aren’t going my way? I just need to trust that the God whose universal energy runs through all things including the crab apple tree, will take care of me! God knows my needs and will avail them at the right time. I just need to be patient and allow God to do his job.

I still marvel at how this crab apple tree adapts. I have learned to be adaptable… to take advantage of what life throws at me. Just like the cold winters or strong summers do not destroy the crab apple tree, nothing is meant to destroy me. I have encountered life altering situations in my life. Kinda like the situation where I snapped a branch off the apple tree…remember? I call these ‘speed bumps’. I have not let these stop me in tracks or change the direction of my journey. I have faced them and conquered them, and bounced back just like the crab apple tree does in the spring!  One resource that has been helpful to keep me on track is in form of a community where I receive daily coaching and on-going support  for my personal growth and development. You need one such community. Just like trees thrive around other trees.Tough situations are meant to build  grit and strength,  perseverance and consistency. I have learned to be patience as I wait for the right time and results.

Yeah…the humans probably thought that I am a seed one day, a seedling the next and they can eat my fruit on the third day! Well it takes me on average six years to bear my first fruit. Tough lesson in patience. What do you think they would do if they had to wait for six years before they saw their hard work! Can they handle the wait? Do you think they would sit and watch the calendar? Or would they immerse themselves in activities that ensured that there actually will be fruit after six years?

Is the crab apple tree whispering again? Having observed it over a long period of time, I notice that it takes a while to bear fruit, even when given all the right resources. Likewise, my goal-oriented actions that I tend to set or review annually and visually document on a Vision Board do take a while to give results. Not because they are weak, but because it simply takes time, consistency and hard work to keep the wheels in motion. I have had to do personal inner work, grow my brand, create visibility, develop programs , a system and routines to bring these goals to life. This is similar to the apple tree sending its roots down so it can be firmly anchored. When storms come, she is ready, and so am I!

Haha…I get tickled by the birds little feet as they hop amongst my leaves, from branch to branch. Sometimes they decide to make a home in my branches and i get to watch the magic of reproduction as eggs are lad, and eventually baby birds hatch and learn to fly under my watch! I also get tickled by little kids fingers and feet as they attempt to climb my trunk in a bid to get a taste of my succulence. I love to give. To give food and shelter to tired travellers as they rest under my shade during the hot summers. I think giving is not just a hobby of mine, but it is my natural gift! I already mentioned how I give off oxygen (coz I don’t really need it but apparently, human do!) I have seen humans cut other trees down and make firewood and furniture, I hope they don’t do that to me after all I have done for them!

I learned alot from how trees give. They give and give and give and they don’t get tired of giving. They give. They give in multiple ways. No matter what goes on in my life I still find ways to be useful to those around me! I believe that our lives are examples, whether good or bad. There were times when I just started this spiritual journey that I found it difficult to give. Guess what? I was not getting any of my desires fulfilled. It was not until I found out that I had to empty my hands of what I was given, by giving it to someone else who needed it more than me at that time, that I started getting abundant blessings in my life. I learned not to hold back from giving.

The structure of the crab apple tree also taught me how to posture myself on my journey as a healer and coach. What is seen on the outside, ie the trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruit is a reflection of the internal processes especially the nutritional composition. . I have to work intricately on my personal growth, through self care or self development. This  inward expansion will eventually show on the outside. A balloon for example, appears full and round yet the air that makes it so is on the inside. This need for self care is why I take my clients through an inner child healing journey because for many, their internal environment is largely affected by their negative childhood experiences. So we fix that through nurturing that child with forgiveness and love and the persona starts to glow on the outside.

I shared more about what we learn from trees in general in this video below: And next time you take a nature walk, stop and listen to the whispers of the trees and plants…you will be blown away by what you learn. Let me know of any unique experiences of yours with nature in the comments…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7oxEIWhhsQ&w=560&h=315]