Monday Motivation: Do You Want To Build A Treehouse?

When I was a kid, I dreamed of having a treehouse to play in. It was all decked out in pinks and purples, sparkly curtains flowing in the windows and a table all set for tea parties with me and my stuffed animals.

The truth is that the yard I grew up in did not have a tree tall or strong enough to hold a treehouse. So, therefore my dream of treehouse tea parties with AG Bear eventually disappeared with the reality of this situation.

While laying on the grass in the park this past weekend, I found myself staring at a beautiful strong tree, admiring the thick branches and was reminded of my childhood treehouse vision returned.

My childhood self wished for a tree to magically sprout in our yard, big and strong, and the treehouse appear out of nowhere.

My adult self realizes that there are some additional things that must happen:

If you want to build a treehouse, you must first have a tree. 

If you want to build a treehouse, you must have a tree that is strong enough to hold it.

If you try to build a treehouse in a tree not strong enough, the tree will fall.

The end goal, being the treehouse, must be build upon a strong base. You cannot try to build a treehouse that will withstand the elements on a tree that will not support it.

The same can be said for goals–you cannot try to rush to the end goal without having a base that will support it.

I have learned that these things take time and there is much growth in the process.

In our rush-rush-go-go-go society, we want things done fast and we want things done now. We expect to have strong trees waiting for us at all hours of the day to build as many tree houses as we need. How realistic is this?

We must put focus on the end goal while allowing the tree to still grow to reach the capacity to hold the house. We must take care during the growth of the tree to ensure it reaches the level of strength we want it to. And, once the tree grows to the level we wish for it to be, we must work hard to keep it healthy to sustain the foundation for the tree.

If we try to build a treehouse in a sapling, we’ll fail.

As I am sitting in the park thinking about all of this, I realized how important this metaphor is in any goal–work or non work related. From here on out, the next time I work to set goals, I’ll look at it from the angle of building a treehouse–with one big, lovely, tall strong tree.

[custom_author=jenny]