The Olive tree has been used as a symbol of – toughness, prosperity, peace, beauty and victory.
Characteristics:
- It requires the presence of hot, harsh winds of the East and the refreshing, renewing growth winds of the West.
- Obtains its strength from good and bad times. It needs to build its resistance by enduring the high winds, bad weather, storms, droughts, hot winds as well as enjoying the sunshine, the rain, the nurture – so as to produce a high yield.
- Through these it can shed it bitterness and hardness so it can produce the best oils and olives.
- It is the oil rather than the fruit that will be the Light of the World.
- The fruit needs to be softened to remove its bitterness. So do we.
- It is vigorous in its growth and steadfast in its independence by building extensive root systems.
- Produces fruit after 6 to 10 years. It is at its peak between 40 and 100 years – if pruned and nurtured well. We should be humbled by the Olive tree.
Just as the Olive needs to build resistance and strength and relies on pruning and care to reach its potential – so do we!
We need to grow through success and failure, through pain and gain, through adversity and good times.
We need a Purpose, a meaning and goals. We need to prune our regrets, disappointments, what wastes our time and who and what impedes our life – so as to build the discipline, the resilience, the improvement in ourselves and ultimately our Legacy.
We are here “to do” – “to serve” – “to become” and “to enrich others”
It is becoming easier to be sucked into the Entitlement mindset and to expect the Government to:
- Fix our own Health and keep us well
- Fix our own Economy
- Fix our troubles or issues with others
- Provide all me need and when we need it
- Improve our life – without any effort on our part
- Expect the weather will suit our activity, or that the Internet and EFTPOS will not go down when we are purchasing what we need
We are the authors of our lives. We make our Choices. And we can choose to Design our own Good Life and be Responsible and Accountable for the consequences – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Our lives are very much like the Olive Tree. We become better with challenges and achievement. We need to accept the pruning and the care of our actions and the help of others – to become the best of which we are capable.
We are each born with unique talents. We are each born for a Purpose. We each have a meaning to our lives. It’s all inside us.
The biggest lie you have been told is that you can have it all, you deserve it all, you should expect it all – by not doing much.
Like the Olive Tree -The distance we go in life is proportional to the love of pain and discomfort we are willing to endure so as the live the life we were born to live
Design your own Good Life – before someone else designs it for you
