The Tree
I am a tree of love. Though I have been beaten, bruised and taken for granted, I still stand tall looking to the windows of heaven. I have my imperfections and I have my strengths and I have always been a faithful tree to my leaves that have fallen. I have been faithful to my branches that have broken and I have always been and will always be faithful and grateful for my roots that have witnessed my trials and my tribulations and have always given me a firm foundation that allowed me to stay as strong as I am. My body is tired of baggage and worn from ripped twigs and broken branches and sometimes a tree as my own needs to release any elements that prevent a tree from just being a tree. In order to do this, it is imperative to know the role of each part of the tree. You must know which elements on the tree are necessary, and which elements can be disposed of. Let's start with the leaves shall we?
The Leaves
Have you ever noticed that leaves can never last an entire season and sometimes they have trouble lasting an entire week. It seems that when that one drop of rain gets on its coat that it just falls to the ground without hesitation and certainly without looking back. Somehow that drizzle is too much for it to handle. Leaves seem to look nice from the outside looking in. So colorful, so abundant, but you never realize that major detail. That they are so weak. Leaves are weak in their form, weak in their spirit, weak in their overall presence and useless to shield the tree from any hardships. They just look nice and a tree can look nice by itself. A tree doesn't need false advertisement or glamour to stand tall. I am a tree that has no use for leaves so as they continue to fall I will rake them. Meanwhile the falling of the leaves allow me to take a closer look at these sneaky branches.
The Branches
Oh my goodness those freaking branches. They seem to fool so many people and I think for a long time they have been completely under my radar. See the thing about branches is when the leaves fall at the drop of a dime, some of the branches are still there. They are giving the impression that they can make it through the good times and through the bad. You go through your raining season and they are still there. You go through the snow and they just collect the snow on their limbs as if they are unaffected by the cold unaffected by the moisture, unaffected by this change. Sometimes a tree can go years with these branches and that's why the tree never realizes that branches are not here for the long haul. Branches may last for a long time, but they don't last for a lifetime. It takes a severe thunderstorm to come through to make you see just how loyal a branch is to a tree. Branches are simply pretenders. They are there for you when the leaves fall off and they try to console you and reassure you that they will always be there and that nothing can separate them from you. You go through a few years with these branches and it's so beautiful because it seems as if the branches will be there because after the leaves fall they seem to be sincere. They have laughed with you and they have cried with you, but then that one major storm comes and they are not strong enough to stick by you. They begin to break, but even though the storm has weakened them, they are still hanging on. All of a sudden several storms come, a hurricane roars, a deep wind blows and after everything is said and done, you find you are left with a tree with no branches, no leaves, but you are still standing on the roots. Those loyal roots.
The Roots
It's so refreshing to be able to count on roots in your life. No matter how hard the wind blows, or how strong the storm is, the roots never change. They never leave you and they always make sure that you are standing on a solid foundation. The roots you are supposed to keep and everything outside of that you throw away. So I will maintain the roots that helped build my body, restore my mind and fill my heart and I Rake the Leaves, Throw out the Branches, and Leave the Roots.
