I’ve had trees on my mind recently because of spending more time this year pruning the willow hedge in my backyard. After I let the hedge get overgrown several years ago while I was busy with other things, it ended up with a lot of dead branches caused by cold winters and dry summers, and cutting it back turned into what seemed like a never-ending chore.

It’s looking much improved now, though, as shown in my last post; and I’ve taken away some useful reminders from it. First, proper maintenance generally is much easier than ignoring something and then having to clean up a gigantic mess later. And second, however big of a chore something may seem, persistence gets it done after a while. Unlike trees, we’re not rooted to our current circumstances but can shift them through the power of incremental changes.

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to “give this planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.” Visit her site to find more Nurturing Thursday posts and a list of frequent contributors.