What a Tree Taught Me About Motherhood

So, in order to grow, your Tree of Life in a healthy, sustainable manner, you must understand its unique characteristics of which there are two parts:

YOUR "ABOVE GROUND" LIFE

Everyone has an external story of their life. This is the life everyone sees—your job title, the kind of car you drive, the neighborhood you live in, the people you hang out with, etc. It's area of life where you identify and label your accomplishments and the things you do. Here you're focused on the busyness of life. You seek efficiency, function and management of everything. 

YOUR "UNDERGROUND" LIFE

Below the "shoulds" that are created from your "above ground" life, resides the desires of your heart in your "underground" life. This is the life people don't always see, but they sense—values, beliefs, purpose, spirituality, feelings and intellect. It's the area of life that tells others who you REALLY are, but without tangible evidence.  Here, you're focused on fulfilling your heart's desire. You seek purpose, enjoyment and meaning in everything.

IMBALANCED GROWTH

When life becomes overwhelming or stressful, it's usually the result of imbalanced growth. Most working moms focus on their "above ground" life because quite frankly it's the part of life that seems most pressing. It's obvious and tangible. You can see when it's not working.

As a result, your underground life is ignored and left untended. You can feel when it's not working, but it's so much easier to blow off because it's not as concrete to you. That is, until your underground life affects your above ground life.

You may be familiar with the symptoms: you're quicker to anger, you can't get things done anymore, you dread work every day, your kids are acting out more and more, etc.

JUST FOLLOW THE BASIC CARE INSTRUCTIONS

The best way to bring your Tree of Life back to optimum health is to just follow the basic care instructions: nourish daily and prune dead leaves.

NOURISH DAILY

Take a moment to consider your "above ground" and “underground" lives. Are there areas where you're placing too much (or too little) focus? What parts of your tree need your attention right away? Next, decide what you'll do to nourish your tree daily keeping in mind that the daily needs of your tree may be different day-to-day, week-to-week or month-to-month.