Acorns and Oak Trees

The biggest struggle human beings face is to reach their potentials and simply enjoy their lives. It seems odd that we need seemingly endless instruction, redirection, tips and tools to happily and successfully navigate our own lives. After all, isn’t it in our nature to instinctively develop into all that we are? Why is it so darn hard?

It seems other things in nature more easily and readily unfold. An acorn needs no instruction, if it is lucky enough to fall on solid ground and get the right nutrition it can develop into the oak tree it was always meant to be.

Just as the acorn has everything it needs within it to become a tall, strong oak tree, we have within us everything we need to be a beautiful human soul, capable of infinite, amazing things. Like the acorn we develop best when we are fortunate enough to fall on solid ground and receive the right nutrients to grow into all we can be. However, there are a whole lot of acorns out there that get gobbled up, crushed, swept away or may even put down roots but never fully mature.

I think this is an apt analogy to humans. In all of nature the worth and value of a thing is inherent, all the ingredients are there to reach the potentials of that being. At the same time, there are many factors that can help or hinder whether the potential is actually met. The more complex the creature the more complex these factors are, they can even be tragic. Humans  are so advanced that our own arrogance can become a hindrance. Fooling us into forgetting our place in nature and that the rules of acorns apply to us as well.

For all our advanced development we struggle to reconnect to our essential nature and can lose sight of what we already have or really need to develop into all we are meant to be. While we too can certainly face harsh environments, get gobbled up and swept away by countless predators or fail to be offered the nutrients we need, we retain the ability to start again at any time. We can chose to reconnect to everything we need to get our shot at becoming all that we are. Unlike acorns, humans have an amazing capacity for creativity, healing and resilience. We just need to take the time to remember the nature of who we are, discover what is in the way and chose to grow despite any factors threatening to get in our way. The secret so many of us fail to discover is that in becoming all that we are we will find our greatest joy. It is in our struggle to grow and pursue what is most important to us that we find we are enjoying our lives along the way.

Here is how to get out of your own way and grow

The thing that most stands in the way of the life you want to live is the life you are living now. We must be willing to let go of what and where we are to grow into what we are meant to be.

Make Time & Space We get on a hamster wheel in our lives filling our time with tasks that must be done. Many of these hold little meaning or fulfillment . Exhausted we fill the space around those tasks with mindless background noise and passive activities that seem relaxing but are really just numbing. We leave so little time to dream, to listen to a far off call, to remember a long ago dream. Rule number one is to create space to just be. Meditate, connect with nature, do anything creative and engaging. You will know you have it when you feel in the zone, at peace or fully alive.

Accept Your Divine Nature Okay, so if an acorn is special enough to hold within it a master plan for a powerful oak tree what might be within you if you place yourself on solid ground? One thing that little acorn has on us is it is not advanced enough to doubt itself. Get back to basics accept that you are a miraculous creation destined for great things. It matters not if you fell on rocky ground and have been told you will never be an oak you just have to remember regardless of what anyone says you are a creation unto itself with magnificent potential waiting to unfold.

Get Up and Grow Let’s say like me that where you landed is not the best place to take root. Or maybe you need some nutrients to fully develop. Identify what you need and chose what is best for you. It can be painful to recognize when you are not in the right place or the relationships you are in are not supportive or positive. The truth is the pain stops not long after you move on. There are billions of people out there to connect with and many places you can put down roots and start anew, be open and the world will be open to you.