“On the slope of Long’s Peak in Colorado lies the ruin of a gigantic tree. Naturalists tell us that it stood for some four hundred years. It was a seedling when Columbus landed at San Salvador and half grown when the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth. During the course of its long life it was struck by lightning fourteen times, and the innumerable avalanches and storms of four centuries thundered past it. It survived them all. In the end, however, an army of beetles attacked the tree and leveled it to the ground. The insects ate their way through the bark and gradually destroyed the inner strength of the tree by their tiny but incessant attacks. A forest giant which age had not withered, nor lightning blasted, nor storms subdued, fell at last before beetles so small that a man could crush them between his forefinger and his thumb.”
Aren’t we all like that battling giant of the forest? Don’t we manage somehow to survive the storms, avalanches, and lightning strikes of life, only to let our hearts be eaten by the “beetles” of worry, fear, stress or jealousy?
Stress & worry can consume us and take over, making the body physically sick. Insomnia, severe stomach aches, migraines, high blood pressure, and panic attacks are only a few of the resulting conditions. For me, the little “beetle” breeds the phrase “What if…..” from the start of this, my over active imagination begins to build a scenario of doom.
What “insecticide” can we use to destroy the “beetles” of life? For each of us the formula will be different. Each of us have a different attacker waging war against us from the inside trying to destroy us. The single common denominators that we all have are the relationships of friends and family. The key is to never be too proud to ask for help. Nobody enjoys asking for help, because it is perceived as a sign of weakness and weakness has been looked down upon since the dawn of time. Phrases have been born…. “Survival of the fittest” - “Only the Strong Survive” - "The weak die out and the strong will survive, and will live on forever".
It takes strength to ask for help! In asking for help, we aren’t showing our weakness or inability; I would argue that we are trying to become stronger.
When sharing struggles, the load is divided and when sharing triumphs, the celebrations are amplified.
Don’t ever let the small things, of life, invade and destroy. Life is too precious and time flies by. Embrace every challenge as an opportunity to get stronger. Enjoy each experience and treasure every relationship.
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