A Tiny Seed; A Rooted Identity

A Tiny Seed;
A Rooted Identity

When I was growing up, I spent many hours climbing the apple trees on our property. I would reach as high as I could to get to a branch at the top and then I’d swing like a monkey until I was worn out and exhausted. Eventually I would hunker down into a crevice and enjoy the beautiful view. Every now and then I would be joined by the company of a praying mantis or some other tiny delight of nature. Many times I would climb the trees to get the apples. Those that were unripe and sour were my favorite. Many other times I just climbed to climb. The apple trees in the orchards in New England are small trees, pruned to yield the best harvest. On our little farm in the midwest, however, our apples trees seemed to grow way up into the sky. We weren’t trying to sell a harvest. We simply wanted to enjoy the fruit of the trees in our pies and crumble which we shared with our family and friends in the shade of those beautiful trees.

I never thought much about it back then, but now when I cut into an apple and think about the huge trees that were in our yard I am in awe of the tiny seed from which all that originated. The root system of the apple tree is born from a little brown seed, not even as big as the nail on my pinky. It’s interesting how important that seed is. If the seed was not the seed of an apple tree, then the root system would give us some other result. We may end up with a cherry tree, or a mulberry tree, or a pear tree all of which were possible on our little and yet spacious farm.

See, the seed is crucial. The seed holds the key to the identity of the tree from it’s roots to its highest leaf. It didn’t matter what we put on the apple tree: lights, ladders or a rope for hanging clothes. The apple tree didn’t worry about external add-ons. It simply existed as an apple tree because of it’s seed.

The Seed of Our Identity

Our sense of identity is a lot like that of the apple tree. It doesn’t matter what job we add to the mix or who we do or don’t marry or whether or not we have political influence or social status. Our identity was solidified for us even before we grew into the full person that each one of us is today. Our true identity is rooted in our very being. It signifies that we have been specifically and ingeniously created. It determines our unique gifts, our unique smile, and our unique personality. For each one of us, our identity seed forms the entire root system of who we are and were created to be.

So…..Who are you?

When you throw away the outer layers of your life and the identity lies that the last post revealed, who are you deep down in your heart and soul? Who are you when your earthly add-ons are stripped away and you truly recognize and celebrate the inspiration and the beauty of your existence? You are the only you ever to be born and the only you who will ever walk this earth. Who is that you? Who are you in seed form? When you find and lead from that seed a leader emerges from within you who inspires and changes lives in ways you could never even imagine. New doors open to you and people respond simply because you choose to lead from who you really are.

This week’s focus

We’ll talk details about how this emerging inspirational leader reaches her success and changes lives in the next post. For this week, however, I encourage you to spend some quiet time discovering the seed of your identity. Take a few moments with a pad of paper and a pen (or your smart phone or ipad) and write down the things you love and the things that excite and energize you. Go a step deeper and make note of what it is about those things that draws and revitalizes you. Discover and marvel in the fascination of who you really are deep down inside your miraculous being. Ponder yourself and ponder your uniqueness. There is no other YOU on the face of this earth. You have been uniquely made from a tiny identity seed which now forms the basis of your true identity.
How incredible is that? How incredible are you? More incredible, perhaps, than you’ve ever realized!

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments section below
and interact with other uniquely created inspirational leaders.

Be Inspired!  Be Inspirational!  Be a Leader!

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