Vines on a small tree
The small tree stands defenseless as the vines creep, tighten, climb and sprawl from it. The vines are so intertwined it looks as though they have become one. If one were to cut the vines from the bark of the tree it would be scarred and leave indentations from where it had been.
Do you ever feel like that tree; climbed upon, choked, strangled and indented by the marks of others? Do you ever feel defenseless only able to stand but not push those vines back? Or do you ever feel like that vine climbing, tightening, leaving scars upon others with your dependence upon them? Do you feel like you are living and thriving off of someone else and if removed you would fall to the ground and struggle alone?
There are always two sides to every story and every situation in life; the victim, the villain, the innocent, the evil, the good and the bad. But have you ever thought there is more to life than just the good and the bad? That life is not truly that clean cut. Life is more like the picture. There are many different weeds, leaves, branches, trees, vines and growth from beneath, above and in the middle. The forest doesn’t grow one little tree by itself. Instead the forest is full of life and growth, one plant depending upon another plant, some choked and strangled and others thriving from the symbiosis.
We humans are not made to be alone. We need companionship and relationships. It is mutually beneficially to find others in this life and become friends. However, it is not always sunny days and rainbows. At times it storm clouds and confusion. No one is completely dependent and no one is completely independent. We are all a mess of weeds with people intertwined in our lives; some leaving scars others nurturing our growth but all a part of the journey.
Today, consider that person or those people who you wish you could just get out of your life. Now consider how good or bad they have caused you to grow more fully into the person you have become today. The journey should not be alone but in the company of others climbing, sprawling and meandering throughout our lives.
