glenmckenzie(justabitfurther) posted: " On Sunday, Lynn and I will make our first Nova Scotia trek out to a local Christmas tree farm and cut a smallish Christmas tree for our living room. Our current living room/dining room area is quite small, so any tree of a larger girth takes up mo" justabitfurther
On Sunday, Lynn and I will make our first Nova Scotia trek out to a local Christmas tree farm and cut a smallish Christmas tree for our living room.
Our current living room/dining room area is quite small, so any tree of a larger girth takes up most of the room, leaving no space for anything else or anybody. One year back in Ontario, the tree was so large, that we had to go outside to change our minds.
I'm also using the phrase "local Christmas tree farm" in its broadest definition. The closest Christmas tree U-Cut farm in our area is about 1.5 hours away. All of which is ironic, given that Nova Scotia is considered the Christmas tree capital of Canada.
Nevertheless, there is something magical about trudging through the frozen acreage of a Christmas tree farm with the sole goal of finding the perfect tree for your home. That one heavenly specimen that will be the crowning glory of your household Christmas decorating extravaganza.
Getting that perfect tree, whether it is a pre-cut or one you cut yourself at a tree farm is one of those special enduring Christmas traditions that bring families and friends together like no other.
As much as a few hours spent at a Christmas tree farm can and does create memories that last a lifetime, Christmas tree farms can also leave us with several valuable life lessons.
How you ask?
There are four life lessons I've learned from cutting our own Christmas tree that you can learn as well.
Life Lessons From A Christmas Tree Farm
Learn Never To Settle For Second Best
I hate to admit to this, but it is often my inclination to pick the first or second tree we happen across. Not sure if it is due to laziness or to save time, but that has been my "modus operandi" in previous Christmas tree-cutting excursions.
But, it is always Lynn, who says, "Let's take a look over here or there. I bet there is something better." So, we search for as long as it takes to find the perfect one. Often slogging through the snow, covering each acre of a rather large tree farm. It always takes more effort; always takes more time, but it is always worth it in the end.
The lesson here is to put in the effort and go after what you want.Doing and getting the best, always takes effort.
Don't settle for what you may think is the best thing, just to save time and energy. By taking that approach, you'll always settle for second best.
Put the time and energy into reaching your goals.
Learn To Take Care of People and Things
Simply put, Christmas trees need love too.
Your Christmas tree won't do or fare very well if you just plop it into a corner of your living room like a worn-out and tired old umbrella when you get home. Propped up in the corner and left there with no care and love, it will simply wither away and drop its needles in a day or two.
To thrive and survive, Christmas trees need a certain level of care and attention once they make it into your house.
Assuming that either you or staff from the tree farm have made a nice clean cut of the tree trunk, a Christmas tree once inside needs two things.
First, it needs plenty of water(a freshly cut tree can consume up to four litres or a gallon of water in the first 24 hours after coming into the house). Secondly, not to be placed near a heat source, like a heating duct.
After that, you'll need to take care and ensure the water level never falls below where the tree was cut and to make sure that it isn't drying out too fast.
As with Christmas trees, similar concepts apply concerning the relationships we have with others in our lives.
Healthy relationships, whether they are with our spouses, our children, our siblings, or our friends, all require a certain level of attention, love, and care to thrive and survive.
In fact, each relationship will require and have its own unique elements that are essential for it to survive. We wouldn't or shouldn't expect a healthy relationship to be the result of "plopping a person into a corner of our living room and not providing them with a certain level of love, care, and attention?"
Like Christmas trees, we need to learn to care for, love, and treat ourselves and others in the way we and each one of them deserve.
Learn to take care of and love others.
Learn The Value Of Teamwork
In our family, cutting a Christmas tree is a two-person operation.
Now, that is not to say that Lynn or I couldn't head on out all alone and cut a tree. We could, but the result may not be what we were looking for; which is the perfect family Christmas tree.
To find and cut the perfect family Christmas tree, I need to have Lynn with me.
First of all, it is much more fun to have her as a co-partner in the endeavour. It would be an understatement of the largest magnitude to suggest that by having Lynn along, she will "keep things interesting and fun."
From past and often extensive experience, the words "interesting and fun," hardly begin to describe an outing with Lynn to cut a Christmas tree or any outing for that matter.
Secondly, we play off or use the strengths and skills each one of us brings to the table to find and cut the perfect tree. I'm more of a hands-on and practical tree cutter, while Lynn has the forward visualizing process to see the finished product.
As an example, once we find the tree we want, Lynn can creatively visualize the tree decorated in our living room before we even start to cut it in the field. I can't do that.
The strengths and skills of a group are always better than the skills of one person.
In other words, you always can't do and be everything on your own.
You need others in your life.
When we work and cooperate together in a group, everyone involved has a much greater chance of success because each one of us brings unique skills that work towards getting the task accomplished.
The strength and skills of a group are always better than the skills of one person.
Learn To Treasure Every Moment With Loved Ones
At some strange level, cutting a Christmas tree out in the middle of a snowy and frosty Christmas tree farm is simply an exercise in "cutting a Christmas tree." A job that simply needs to be completed by someone. Nothing more than some random physical activity undertaken for an hour or so, to accomplish a specific purpose.
But, it is way more than that.
And we know that because many of us go out and cut a Christmas at a Christmas tree farm, year after year. In fact, it can be one of the most anticipated and treasured outings during the Christmas season for many families.
We do it, yes to simply get a special Christmas tree, but more importantly, and whether we know it or not, we are creating memories.
Memories created with loved ones, that will last and endure the test of time.
When trekking out to cut that tree, we learn to treasure and value each little moment as it happens during that adventure. Whether it happens to be your spouse singing wildly away at Christmas songs or perhaps the farm dog that follows you along the way. Regardless of what the moment looks like it isn't the point.
The point to be learned for each one of us is the value and importance of our loved ones and the little things in life that happen with them along the journey we call life.
We need to learn to treasure and embrace those seemingly insignificant moments. Those are the ones, that often and usually create the most enduring and heartfelt memories.
Treasure those tiny cherished moments created with your loved ones.
This Christmas, when you head on out to cut your special family Christmas tree and you're all bundled up and carrying a thermos of hot chocolate to ward off the chill, remember these four life lessons:
learn never to settle for second-best
learn to take care of people and things
learn the value of teamwork
learn to treasure every moment with loved ones
--as always with love--
--- get outdoors; find inspiration; discover yourself ---
No comments:
Post a Comment