Roots and Branches

With so many opinions and so many perspectives, holding your ground can be a difficult feat. As challenging as this                       “stick-to-it-ness” is, we can learn some valuable lessons from trees. The University of Arizona runs a large, three-acre lot that the university has made into a biosphere. This biosphere is called the Biosphere 2. In it, scientists try to synthesis the biosphere in which we live in. Some of the results were of worth to note.

The University discovered that the trees would grow more quickly in the biosphere than in nature but the trees would not reach full maturity. The trees would collapse regularly before reaching maturity. The university discovered that the trees needed wind to grow in strength. The stress on the trees, created by the wind, resulted in the tree shifting and strengthening the roots both radially and vertically. What can we learn from this? The need for opposition is essential, and that includes opposition in opinions and perspectives of other people. Once we understand this, we begin to embrace the value of these differing opinions and we begin to learn how to grow from them.

In considering a tree in the wind, two things are very apparent: (1) the trunk and the branches sway in the wind, and (2) the roots and base remain steady. Herein lies the principle. As social humans, we must learn to sway and be tolerant in the wind of opposition while remaining planted in our values and our beliefs.

Indeed, there is much to be learned from the roots and the branches.

Sources
http://awesci.com/the-role-of-wind-in-a-trees-life/