Once upon a time, there was a carpenter who had been hired to help a man, lets call him Mark. The carpenter was to help Mark restore an old farmhouse and had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start.
While Mark drove the carpenter home, he (carpenter) sat in stony silence. On arriving home, he invited Mark in to meet his family. As they walked toward the front door, the carpenter paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. Upon opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tan face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterwards, he walked the man to the car. They passed the tree and curiosity got the better of Mark. He asked him about what he had seen him do earlier. “Oh, that’s my trouble tree”, he replied. “I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again. Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”
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Life gets so tough on us sometimes. Business may not be working out as expected. Work may be getting so hard to deal with, maybe your colleagues or the boss is giving you a lot of pressure, or your studies may be getting tougher by day. All these issues are part of life and sometimes it’s so hard to handle them. Do you have your ‘trouble tree’? Or do you hurt the people around you because of the frustrations you are going through?
Do you go home and your spouse, siblings, children or roommate cannot find peace because you let it out on them? This is something we may not easily realize but if you notice those around you avoiding you when you are stressed or commenting that you need to be left alone, then it’s something to consider.
Learn to protect those around you from yourself. Find a way to release your stress before you get home or meet your loved one. They had no role to play in your misfortunes. You can vent on them and share what you are going through, but you shouldn’t make them pay for your troubles. To read more posts by Mercy click HERE
