The Tree-Stand
When my daughter Sarah was younger (8 or 9), she presented me with an odd request. She wanted a tree-stand. The kind hunters use to sit high up in a tree to spot their prey. Yet Sarah was not a hunter.
She told herself a story about sitting high in the tree reading a book, sipping a beverage, and enjoying nature in quiet solitude. Of course, I said no.
A few weeks went by with continued requests and a presentation of the perfect stand picked out on Amazon.
So one day, I walked with her out to the tree she had in mind, placed a small step-ladder against the trunk so she could reach the lowest branch, and I asked her to climb up and show me where the stand would go.
She made it all the way to the top – of the ladder.
The stories we tell ourselves drive our motivations. But there is peace in knowing our limitations.