The Necessary Elements

It must have taken time to become so aged. Time and determination. It had survived when so many others had not made it. It was big to say the least. Not the biggest I had ever seen, though. But it had character.

I stood there and I stared at a beautiful, gigantic tree in the middle of the park. While taking in its grandeur, I couldn't help but wonder how many other trees like this one, once dotted the park's interior before being cut down to put in paths and grass lawns for picnickers. And why had this one survived out of all of them?

But beyond this question, I wanted to be like that tree. As I said before, it had character. A thick, sturdy trunk with roots wrapped around its base. A heavy layer of bark covered the flesh of the tree like the scales of a dragon. It had been beat up and weathered; experienced storms, rain, snow, sleet, wind. There were scars telling the tales of what it had seen over the years. As I stood there, I noticed other passersby were looking at it, enjoying everything it had to show for its battle against the elements. I wanted to be like that tree. Not because I wanted to go through hardship and suffering, but because I wanted to stand up underneath them and come out on the other side still whole.

Perseverance, steadfastness, and toughness are just a few of the words one would use to describe the tree. These are all traits I would love to possess and, to some extent, do possess traces of. But it is time that brings them to fruition. At one point, this great arboreal mammoth was a sapling; a weakling who had very little chance of survival amidst the giants surrounding him. But as the years passed by, it grew, probably with a longing much like the one I possess. And in the end, it was time and determination which allowed the desire to mature and the scars to tell the tale of who the tree was.

The Tree, Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia