Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come. ~ Robert H. Schuller

Ever heard the phrase, “This too shall pass”?

How about the more modern, “Wait for it”?

Or this one? “Don’t grocery shop while hungry.”

Yeah yeah yeah, maybe those all have completely different meanings, yet they all convey the same basic message: Hold onto your reaction until the time is right.

Personally, I’m anticipating/dreading the pending outcome of several major areas in my life that are lined up like dominoes. Is one of them going to fall and tip the others over, or will they all stand?

I’m tempted, as I’ve foolishly done in the past, to give one or more of them a solid shove, and be done with all the tedious waiting.

But then, every morning before I head off to work, I see the new growth on the trees that I ranted blogged about here and again here. Look at the before and after:

(I couldn’t capture the detailed graffiti on the fence around the construction site next door, or the profane homeless woman who leaves her shopping cart by the driveway while she spies on her ex across the street. Such visual treats! Maybe later.)

The trees survived their low time, and now they are thriving. No, I’m not saying I want a good pruning, but maybe that’s what this will turn out to be… I’m reminding myself to let things play out naturally, to wait for the right time before making any decisions.