How much can you give before people take everything you have?

We all know the story of the Giving Tree.

“At face value, the story is about a tree’s sacrifice for the love of a boy. At first, they happily play together every day, but eventually the boy grows up and pursues the trappings of adulthood: money, a house, a family, travel. So the tree gives the boy her apples to sell, her branches to build a house, and her trunk to make a boat. By the end, the tree is a stump, but the boy — now a tired old man — needs nothing more than a quiet place to rest, so he sits on the tree and the tree is happy. The end.

But it is the tree who longs most for what was lost, and it is here — at the intersection of time’s passing and the tree’s love — that the story is most powerful. Every time the aging boy returns, the tree gives at great cost to fulfill the boy’s desires, aching to regain Eden for him: “Then you can…be happy,” as happy as when the boy played among the branches long ago.

But they cannot go back. The boy returns each time to the tree, dissatisfied and desiring more, until he grows “too old and sad to play.” The book ends with a shadow of Eden: the boy and the tree together again, but ravaged by time.” Source

I am once again at that point of the year where I feel like the stump –  I have given everything I have to give and feeling highly undervalued. It breaks my heart that I see the people who want to take everything the tree has to offer before I see the people nurturing the soil and the roots ( and there is no shortage of those people).

And then I get a chance to nurture another young person who appears to be making the same mistakes I have and I dish out that advice I so need to take on board myself.

If you don’t value yourself no-one else will

and I beg that young person don’t be me – its very, very lonely. I know she wont be me because she believes in me and because of her I get up everyday and I say thank you.

Do I end with this??

No I end with this

Author: Lynne Strong

I am a 6th generation farmer who loves surrounding myself with optimistic, courageous people who believe in inclusion, diversity and equality and embrace the power of collaboration. I am the founder of Picture You in Agriculture. Our team design and deliver programs that inspire pride in Australian agriculture and support young people to thrive in business and life View all posts by Lynne Strong