The Tree Metaphor

Do you know a tree has to grow in two directions simultaneously? 

Interestingly, the part of the tree under the ground, the root system, is very similar to the part above the ground, the fruit system. The nature of a tree is that it is both gravitropic and phototropic. Gravotropic means it grows away from light towards gravity. That is the root system. It is gravitropic in nature. The seed goes down into the ground, growing deeper and building a network of root branches before rising above the ground. 

Phototropic means growing above the ground, away from gravity, towards the sun. That is the fruit system, the part of the tree that is visible to all of us.

When the seed is under the ground, it is dark and damp, with massive resistance. It has to push through the ground to create its network of roots. That said, once the seed breaks through the earth and emerges, it encounters no further resistance. Now, the tree is growing in two different directions simultaneously.

How is this metaphor of a tree growing in two directions relevant to our lives? It is perhaps the most beautiful illustration of how life works for all of us. It’s the work you do in the dark when it’s difficult and damp that makes the work everybody sees in the light visible.

Everyone sees the outward markers of success or achievement, but no one understands the gravitropic nature of the hard work that one has to put in silently. Everyone desires the trappings of the fruit system, while the real success is in the gravitropic system. If one is unwilling to go down deep, there’s no way you can go higher up.

Credit- I picked this idea from a Video message I received via a Whatsapp forward recently.