I live in California and the threat of wildfires is constant. The dry arid environment with little to no rain is a perfect recipe for fires, even in suburban areas like mine.
I live in a city with undeveloped rolling hills just a few miles away that are a fire hazard. The plants that grow there in the winter and spring become tinder for a fire after the summer heat has killed them all. Fire dangers are always present and every few years when the growth has come back enough, we have a fire. Some are worse than others.
When I mountain bike, I like to ride through those hills and on a recent trip, I saw the remnants of trees and shrubs that have been burnt. Their black charred arms still damaged from the fires reach up to the sky as if asking for help.
What is beautiful about these plants is that although the old charred branches are dead, the roots never died and new life was preserved. Sprouting up from the base are new green branches stretching forth, growing strong, bringing back life where everything appeared to be dead.
Accidents do happen. Mistakes are made. Markets change. What was once strong can be torn down and destroyed. But not all has to be destroyed because new life will be reborn in time.
In a recent consulting project, I spoke with a gentleman who had been seeking a job for over a year. He was dejected at the repeated rejections and I asked if I could help him. He reluctantly agreed and I’m proud of him for recognizing that he needed some help and was willing to take it. I didn’t have to do much. I refreshed and updated his resume, I helped him rethink some of the negative self-talk he was repeating to himself, and I gave him a new lens in which to frame the last year of his life. These changes have brought about a sliver of hope where new growth can begin to grow. He, like the charred branches, has new life beginning to grow.
Don’t lose hope when destruction happens. Instead, seek help from those around you who can support, help, and encourage you to keep pressing forward.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash