What's a few bad apples, anyways?
What does this picture tell you? As I looked out into my backyard yesterday, my beautiful apple tree caught my eye. Actually, it was the mound of apples on the ground that caught my eye. My first though. I was initially saddened. What a waste, all those lovely lush apples are no longer enjoyable. I’d missed my opportunity to pick them before they fell. Life had gotten in the way of me enjoying the fruits of its labor. A few hours later, the tree was still calling me. As I looked at it again, I pondered that tree and what had happened this summer with it. “A tree of life” came to mind. Let me explain. In the spring, the tree developed an enormous amount of white blossoms. They covered the entire tree, it was beautiful. They represented hope, opportunity, ideas, and newness of life. As summer progressed, those blossoms developed into fruit. As I inspected the tree early on, not all the blossoms produced abundance. Some of the fruit was the size of a nickel and then they dried up. It wasn’t the right time for them, they weren’t ready to grow and develop. Or they were not the right fit for the tree, they weren’t meant to be. There were too many of them and the tree could not sustain everything. In life, relationships may not last, ideas fade away or opportunities dry it. It’s not the right time. And most importantly, we cannot do everything we want to do, we don’t have the capacity to maintain it all. Yet much of the fruit flourished as they grew and matured. While they weren’t ripe yet, I could see the potential was there. In life, we try to hold on to those moments or items that we want we work on them to bring life to them. We try to balance or juggle many tasks, ideas or jobs, nurturing all of them. And then, a few months later, some of the apples started to fall. They were still green, but the stems weren’t strong enough to hold them anymore. Over the next week, it was windy. The weather decided to push the limits and it won, in some cases. More apples fell. Again, they weren’t up to the challenge, just as in life, not everything you work at will succeed. You can put all sorts of efforts in, time, money, love. But sometimes the winds of the world know better and they take control of the situation, removing the ‘apples’ that aren’t right for you. Some will fall off gradually, while some hold on until a tumultuous event that disrupts your life and sheds you of what no longer belongs. But those fruit that remained on the tree, they started maturing and turning a luscious red. They were strong and were bound to turn into something wonderful. Nothing was going to stand in their way. No amount of turmoil would bring those fruit down. Those apples that remained on the tree yesterday, they were meant to be there. They represented maybe 5% of the original crop. What if your life is like that? Not everyone you meet is meant to stay. Not every opportunity, idea or job is meant to be a perfect fit for you. If they walk out of your life, if they fall away, they weren’t for you. Let them go. Those bad apples are just that, they’re bad for you. They won’t nourish you or provide you with what you need to thrive. Instead, look at the fruit you still have with you. The one’s that held true, stayed strong. They developed a firm connection in the stem that would withstand even the strongest of pressure against it. They grew and became a juicy addition to you, for you. Your efforts can now be focused on these fruits of your labor, the one’s that truly matter to you and truly belong to you. Oh, doesn’t it feel amazing to know that you can focus on a few, specific, wonderful things and make them an amazing part of your life? And what about those apples that were on the ground, were they lost, never to be of any use? No, I don’t believe so. As I picked them up yesterday I realized that they too had a use, a purpose. Some were partially eaten, oh the birds must’ve thought they’d hit the jackpot. Those apples provided nourishment and pleasure for others. Even though they weren’t right for you in the long run, they were right for someone or something else. So, maybe that idea you had, that didn’t work out for you, it worked for someone else… because it was their time and the idea was better suited to them. Or that relationship that failed…. they were meant to find someone else to nourish. As for the rest of the apples, they were put into my compost bin. They need more time to develop and to provide for. In the spring, they will have produced rich, amazing soil full of nutrients, ready to give life to the rest of my plants and to show abundant flowers and foliage. Or they become rich soil that below the surface will feed the roots and the worms, hidden from view but still needed. So yes, those rotten apples have a purpose. As you look at the opportunities that haven’t shown you a purpose yet, be patient. Greatness takes time. At some point, it will present itself to you. It might take months or maybe years. Maybe they will come back to you in a different form, when you’re ready to use them. Or, you may not see the results as they may be buried from view, but still providing you with benefits. Now, when I look at the picture, it tells me quite a different story. It’s not about lost opportunities or wasted fruit. That negative view needs to go. Instead I know that my life has great parallels to that tree and regardless of what happens I am giving out an abundance of love and opportunity with each passing day. It’s just that my gifts, my fruit, are not always going to give what I expect they will. Rather than forcing what I think should happen, I need to put the work in and then see what falls away, and what remains strong and luscious in my life. With kind, loving eyes, I can appreciate that the right opportunity, the right relationships, the right ideas will stay with me. And let the rest go, in peace, knowing that they weren’t meant for me. What about you? What do you see in the picture?
