Hello my friends,
My name is Tiffany Borst and I'm a psychotherapist and meditation coach.
Thank you so much for joining me for my first episode of my new series called Lessons.
This series is for anyone who is on a self-growth journey and needing a little inspiration.
In this series I will share stories that have inspired me on my own journey and I hope it serves you or at least makes you smile.
Let's get started.
Lessons from a dead bud tree.
I laugh and roll my eyes now at my younger self as I take in the beautiful red bud trees that line my street.
When I look back on my younger self I have so much compassion but I also have to laugh at how impatient I was.
My memory immediately goes to a scene 30 years ago.
Bob and I were newly married and had just moved into our first home.
It was a sweet little one-story home on a slab.
It was brand new and so exciting to us.
This home symbolized all the promise of our new life together.
All except for the dead tree the builders had planted in our front landscaping.
It was truly the ugliest thing I had ever seen.
Gangly,
Not budding as I thought it should.
It honestly looked dead.
I begged Bob to get rid of it.
Of course he believed that it would come back and bloom.
It became a joke between us as we began to call the tree the dead bud.
As a new wife I was insistent.
I've mellowed a lot over the years and as a new husband he was very eager to do whatever would make me happy.
That much has never changed I am so grateful to say.
So despite his belief in this young tree Bob took out the dead bud and planted a crabapple tree in its place.
I chose the crabapple as a replacement and the irony of this is not lost on me.
Here's the thing about my husband.
He does not give up on things easily.
Whether it was his need to silently prove he was right or his never-ending belief and nurturing of all things that are struggling in any way,
He planted the dead bud in the backyard.
I teased him of course but I really didn't care as long as it wasn't in my front landscaping.
Problem solved.
We had reached a compromise.
We lived happily in that little sweet little home for only three years well before we even had kids.
Recently my oldest son moved into his first home with his young bride.
A full circle moment for sure.
Unbeknownst to them they had moved just around the corner from our very first home.
Bob and I were helping our son and his wife move into their new home and drove by our sweet little house and would you believe that darn dead bud tree is still alive.
30 years later it is big and beautiful.
I laugh until Bob he wins this round.
I realize now that little tree was busy growing roots just waiting for the right moment to bloom and isn't that what we're all doing?
The self-growth journey is like that.
At times it can be frustrating.
We're working so hard to grow and we just can't see the blooms.
All we need is a little patience with ourselves,
A little patience from others while we grow our roots and in time we will bloom.
Ironically as much as I disregarded that little tree I have come to see these red bud trees as such a symbol of love patience and growth.
Each spring the red bud trees in my neighborhood are the first to bloom.
They have beautiful purple flowers and all the promise spring brings.
In the summer these very same trees have heart-shaped leaves reminding me of all the love one life can bring.
I have often said that marriage is our greatest spiritual assignment.
Learning to love unconditionally,
Learning to forgive,
Learning the give and take of compromise.
These are the lessons I think of when I think of that little dead bud tree so many years ago.
But more than anything I think of the patience and never-ending belief my husband had in me.
The very same love that he showed that little tree as it grew is the patience he has shown me and let me tell you I had a lot of growing to do.
I mean we both did right?
We all have growing to do.
We all need someone to love us and give us the space for that growth.
And we all need more patience with ourselves while we're busy growing roots.
So today I challenge you to reflect on an area of your life that could use a little patience.
Maybe grab a pen and your journal.
Feel free to pause the audio as you reflect on the following journal prompts.
In your life needs your patience right now.
In what way can you show yourself a little patience and grace today?
In what ways have you been growing roots?
Thank you so much for joining me for this first lesson.
I hope you'll join me again.
Until then I'm sending you so much love and blessings from my heart.
