Let Go Of The Tree

I remember it like it was yesterday.

Walking back home from my friend’s house, down Goboro Rd, when a couple of the “cool kids” rode by on their bikes. They were headed down to the river to swim, and asked if I wanted to come along.

Well being one of the “not so cool” kids, I figured maybe some of that 11 year old coolness would rub off on me if I went, so down the hill we headed.

Little did I know that perched over the swimming hole was an enormous tree, with branches hanging over the river. What seemed like 50 feet up was a branch, and these guys would climb up the tree, onto the branch, and then jump in the river.

Now to this day I am not a fan of heights. And that climb was not on my “to-do” list, I assure you. Now this might not be a story you want to tell your kids, but after not a small amount of taunting, I very slowly approached the tree and begin climbing.

It really wasn’t that high, 20 feet tops, but I still remember the pit in my stomach when I got up to that branch and tepidly shimmied out over the water.

The other thing you need to know is that there was a rock beneath the surface of the water that you needed to clear. As an aside a couple years later they cut down this same tree because some other knuckle headed kid messed himself up pretty bad on it.

So here I am, with a death grip on the tree, the cool kids (and some of my real friends – we still see each other to this day) treading water and egging me on to jump.

It wasn’t like I was the first one to do it. These guys had each successfully climbed and jumped 2 or 3 times before my first trip up. They had shown me it could be done, and they were having a blast.

But I wasn’t quite ready to let go of the tree.

Do you have trees in your life that you are holding onto just a little too tightly?

Is there something that is scaring you, keeping you from getting where you want to be?

You know I let those guys talk me into what I mighta shoulda not have done.

But I usually see the opposite.

We let people talk us out of doing things that are going to move us forward.

People who bring donuts and brownies into work, and then get upset if we don’t have one or two.

“Friends” that think we are too radical for making good choices with our nutrition, or spending time training.

“Here, have another glass of wine”, when one is quite enough, thank-you.

What I have found is people like that are not ready or don’t want to make positive changes in their own life, so they are going to try to drag you down too.

Why do we let people do that? Why do we care that they care we are eating the veggies at the party? Why do we let other people define who we are? If I want to eat carrots what do they care? Why should what they say affect my behavior?

Really? Why do we do that?

So let go of the tree.

Let go of the self-doubt and negative talk.

Let go of the need to please other people so much that you hurt yourself in the process.

You know what?

It’s ok to be the “freak” that makes good choices and takes care of yourself.

And while people still like to poke at you for not eating the donuts, they are also the first ones that will ask you stuff about diet and nutrition.

Because deep down they want what you have.

So my challenge to you is to get your freak on. Dare to be different. Dare to stick to your guns.

Did I let go of the tree?

You bet I did. And when I hit the water I climbed out and did it again.

It’s about time you let go of the things that are holding you back too.

Make It Happen!

Coach Dean