Lessons from Nature:
From Tiny Acorns do Mighty Oaks Grow
You know that strange set of circumstances when you think about something and then every time you see something or listen to a podcast the same theme comes up again and again. Well that. Often referred to as synchronicities, I like to think of it as a healthy level of signposting of things to which you should pay attention, something that has come to give you a lesson.
For me these last few weeks, it has been the mighty oak. It started on a random Friday when I noticed something dropping in the path in front of me. Acorns as it turned out. When I looked up I saw a nifty red squirrel on harvest duty but not paying a lot of direction to his bounty. A present as it turned out. For presence. There are plenty of times I would have had earphones in and been striding away towards my 10k steps total and wouldn’t have noticed. But the act of being fully present was enough to bring me into the moment and hand me the gift of spotting something that will always give me a smile.
And from the acorns, emergence. The acorn contains everything needed to grow the mighty oak, seemingly endless potential contained within. All it needs is the right conditions in which to flourish and thrive. Well ain’t that quite the metaphor. As I have spent more and more time this autumn growing my coaching practice, this has been a timely lesson. The beauty of coaching is the belief that the client has the potential to achieve his/her outcomes. That the oak is famed for its strength and longevity and originating from such humility is a powerful teaching for anyone embarking on a new way of thinking. We have the blueprint within us for greatness, it’s a case of giving ourselves the right conditions in which we can really thrive. Good sleep, nutritious food, exercise, community, time.
And the final lesson, the oak itself is a slow growing tree, slower growth associated with stronger wood. (Yes, the metaphors keep coming.) There is a need for patience, to let things develop at their own pace. Things may come about slowly but likely to have more longevity that the quick fix, the flash in the pan. We have all grown used to quick fixes, to the now commonplace promises of ‘life hacks’, shortcuts to solutions which would ordinarily require more time. Guess what, more time is probably the answer.
Look to nature for your lessons, it is a good teacher.