“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”—Chinese proverb
Too many people get stuck in the regret of not “planting their tree twenty years ago”. They lament the loss of opportunity, forever gone. If they would have planted the tree when they should have, they’d be enjoying its fruit and shade as we speak.
Ouch—painful regret.
Fair enough—regret is normal. And if regret becomes part of a healthy grief process, then great--grieving our losses is good for us, and actually the only sure way of moving on from loss.
But endlessly lamenting (which is very different than healthy grieving, by the way) about not having “a tree” never gets us the tree!
There are two choices—let go of the desire to have the tree, or . . .
. . . get busy planting the tree . . . NOW!
Who says you can’t still plant the tree? Is it really too late?
“But I should’ve planted it twenty years ago.”
Perhaps you should have, BUT YOU DIDN’T!
Now what?
Let it go OR plant it.
And if you decide to plant it, but feel stuck in the inertia of inactivity, take a step, however small. Just do something. Get some movement going.
Big waves ALWAYS start from small waves. Just start making some small waves.
And get busy planting your tree.
--Sean Cox, Chicago