The Young Oak Tree

Once upon a time there were two oak trees in a meadow somewhere in England, and old oak tree that had stood there for many years and was large and sturdy and a new, young oak tree that was small and quite frail.

The young oak tree wasn't very happy. "Please Old Oak," he cried, "please don't make me push my roots down any further. It's so damp and cold in the earth and I keep bumping into rocks!" The young oak was on the verge of tears.

"Now, now," said the old oak. "Soon it'll be springtime and there will be spring winds. Then it'll be summertime and summer storms. Your roots have to be strong to keep the rest of you in place. And your roots must be deep in the earth so that they can find nourishing food to feed you, to make your trunk and branches and leaves strong and healthy."

"Oh all right!" sighed the young oak.

"Don't worry," said the oak encouragingly. "By next spring you will have grown so tall and strong, you''ll be amazed!"

So the young oak continued to push his roots deeper and deeper into the ground, until spring.

One spring morning when the sun was shining, the young oak tree happened to glance across at his branches, and lo and behold, there were the most beautiful green buds all over them! The young oak tree thought they were wonderful. He felt so handsome and proud... until one day he felt his buds about the burst. He was so devastated.

"Old Oak!" he cried, "look at my branches and my beautiful buds. They are about to burst. What shall I do?"

"There, there, young oak," said the old oak in a comforting voice. "Don't panic. You're not loosing anything. Have patience and you'll be pleasantly surprised."

"But how can you be sure of that?" asked the young oak.

"You will learn that when you let go of something, it will always be replaced by something better."

The young oak trusted the wisdom of the old oak tree, so he let go. And almost as soon as he did, hundreds of tiny leaves began to appear all over the young oak's branches.

"Look at me!" squealed the young oak with delight. "I'm even more beautiful. You were right!"
As spring turned to summer the young oak tree became more and more beautiful. Many families of birds built their nests in his branches and lived happily there, which made the young oak happy ask well. He was happy he was strong and healthy with deep roots and that he was able to share his beautiful leaves with others.

One day he noticed that little brown seeds were beginning to form. The old oak told him they were acorns and the young oak was happy with them as well. But one day they started falling off and then the young oak noticed that his leaves were beginning to change color. He was not happy at all!

"Old Oak!" he cried, "What is happening to me? My acorns are falling off and my leaves are changing color!"

"Remember what I told you in the spring," the old oak said. "Whenever you let go of something, it will be replaced by something better. You see, when you let go of something, you are giving it away and sharing it. When you lose all your acorns, they will be gathered up by squirrels who will store them for food for the winter. A few acorns will fall into the warm cracks in the earth and when spring comes they will sprout roots and begin to grow... just like you did."

The young oak was silent listening to the old oak. "When autumn comes," continued the old oak "you will discover that your leaves have turned into beautiful shades of orange, gold and red. Then, when winter comes, all your leaves will fall off completely."

"All my leaves will fall off?" exclaimed the young oak. "But that will make me ugly and then I'll never be wise and old like you!"

"Ah, but you will!" replied the old oak, "because that is exactly how I became wise and strong."

The young oak tree was very puzzled and wondered if he would ever understand what the old oak tree meant. But as time passed he began to understand. He watched as his acorns fell into the ground and the little squirrels gathered them up for winter food. He watched as his leaves turned to orange and gold and red and then began to fall as well. He watched as children played in his fallen leaves, laughing and frolicing and he was suddenly quite happy to share them. When winter arrived, the young oak was so glad he had shared himself he didn't mind being ugly for awhile, after all, he had spring time to look forward to. Then his roots would be longer, his branches would reach higher, his leaves would be bigger, his trunk would be stronger and he would be older and wiser... like the Old Oak.

Cross posted from Point of Power
and Earth Harmony Home