Bonsai Post

No, that’s not what builds a fence for Shetland Ponies. It means short and sweet today.

Ever nurture a bonsai tree?

The interesting thing is that they come from the same stock as the “normal” full sized, expansive trees.  The Secret  is root control, limb trimming and training.

• By placing in a shallow container, the tap roots are limited to growth. This will control the growth of the tree.
• The growth on the branches above are constantly trimmed back, so it remains small.
• Sometimes copper wire or another constraint is used to shape the branches as they grow, to create a unique “contorted” appeal to them.

Don’t be a Bonsai. 

• Allow your roots to grow. Provide yourself with unending depth for you to tap (sorry) into. Do not become stunted. You’ll need the strength, the nutrient and the water when winds, pollution, dry spells and other forces act on you.
• Allow ALL your branches to grow. Not just the main trunk, or the top two or three that everyone likes, but all of yourself. If you feel like sprouting some crazy little off-shoot from some where- do it. Nurture it and let it grow!
• Allow NO constraints to shape you. Never let someone else’s ideas, perceptions, or you own subconscious control and shape you into something you don’t like.

Be your own arborist.  Don’t treet (ouch,sorry) yourself like a bonsai.  Don’t sell yourself short (yup, I had to go there).

The world needs re-forestation. Allow your full potential. YOU can provide the oxygen the world needs.

Top 5 reasons to stop Shoulding on yourself.

I left the conversation kicking myself in the proverbial ass knowing only then what I SHOULD”VE said 15 minutes before!  So much for showing off my quick wit and comprehension of the subject, I thought.

We’ve all been there. A feeling that we’ve lost the chance of getting the promotion, getting a good buy, impressing someone, or making someone laugh, by saying (or doing) the “wrong” thing.

An economist might call it Missed Opportunity Costs.  The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as “the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen”.  In other words, I lost money when I chose A over B. I lost making a favorable impression when I said this instead of that. I should’ve taken the other job, or bought the other…  The list is endless in our lives. Unfortunately we all do it.

It’s uncomfortable. It’s not needed, or healthy. Stop “shoulding” on yourself because:

1. It’s just a Past scenario you keep replaying to yourself comparing choices that are no longer in front of you.
2. It might just be your thoughts of what you think Someone Else Expected of you.
3. It might just be “buyers remorse” in short term thinking that the value was higher in the un-taken choice.
4. It feels uncomfortable because sometimes it’s just Inertia as you have to start some new Momentum as you go in a new direction.
5. Most importantly, it’s not the end of the game, so don’t take score yet.

If you’ll stop to think about it, all five of these have one idea in common. Scarcity. When you feel like “I should’ve”, you are only choosing to express a perception from not enough of a commodity.

I believe the real problem in “shoulding” on yourself only comes from “knowledge scarcity”!

• You don’t Know what or how much is still ahead of you.
• You don’t Know how what happened is going to play out in the future.
• You don’t Know how it affected others that you may not even know about.
• You don’t Know if the lost “gain” would’ve changed a situation that you do like.

Without the knowledge that only the future and the Universe has, your perception of “missing an opportunity” is based only on a tiny fragment of information. Let your life keep unrolling.

Leave it alone if it is past. Look around. Look ahead.

Be aware of abundance. Appreciate the choice you made. There are endless more choices coming to you.

 

 

(image from halelrod.com)