Mrs Kogie Pillay has written a wonderful post at her https://aaksharawellness.blogspot.com/ She compares nature and man, who supposedly and arrogantly claims to be superior. She observes that "Trees go through a life cycle beginning as a seed, moving on to germination, seedling, sapling, mature tree, decline, and death or decay," and "Trees, plants, and greenery show extraordinary levels of resilience, regardless of exposure to favourable or unfavourable conditions. Depending on their location, physical structure, or exposure to threats, they use what they have to grow with health, adapt, survive, or thrive."
She then poses the following question after observing nature at its best.
This then begs the question: do they complain and how do they manage their existence effectively. While it may appear unrealistic to compare the existence of flora to that of humans, would it be smart to ignore that much knowledge and wisdom can be gained from them.
She poses another question.
Our physiological structure, the manner in which we live, challenges, external factors, life purpose, threats etc differ vastly but given that we all fall within one macrocosm there must be similarities, parallels, connections or relationships we don’t recognise or give attention to, right? Could intelligence be discerned from the humble tree which could potentially illumine the darkness we as humans grapple with on a daily basis?
Our indoctrinated perception of being separate, different, incomparable, unique, superior or loftier than other creations limits us with a narrow keyhole perspective that obscures our mind from considering possibilities. The focus on characteristics that distinguish is problematic and obstructive. Features such as shape, size, looks, colour, height, weight, physical and biological structure are perceptions of our outer self. We must look deeper. The ignorance of not expanding our vision laterally and beyond, to grasp our likeness to everything surrounding us keeps us captured by maya, the master of illusion. We perceive ourselves as different from habitants in nature which diminishes the possibility of learning, acquiring insights or illumination from sources rich in knowledge and wisdom.
What then can be drawn from the existence of entities in nature to enable us as humans to create, manage and live meaningfully, unaffected by the numerous common afflictions that bother us daily?
Having seen and studied "The Wisdom of Flora" and man's "Keyhole Perspective", she brings us to the "Four Qualities to Stretch our Thinking Beyond the Confines of the Human Mind".
She points to the need for us to have "Resilience".
The development of resilience is probably one of the most important that should be prioritised by us. Resilience can never be over developed and is the strength that enables one to experience life challenges with more hope, confidence and optimism, distinguishing one from those who struggle. Life constantly throws challenges, trials and tribulations, hence strong resilience is essential to accept, understand, learn, realise and move on from adversities in a healthy manner. Low levels of resilience tend to perpetuate feelings associated with giving up, losing hope and fearing new opportunities. Resilience is a strong ace to ride the waves of life, embrace new experiences, dispel unfounded fear, learn from previous disappointments and approach daily life with more strength, faith and confidence. Resilience naturally becomes eroded if one has experienced significant setbacks, challenges or disappointments over a long period. However one can rise up from that by convincing oneself to see the upside of a situation. Understandably not the easiest thing to do. It is however useful to identify at least one positive aspect or benefit of a difficult situation each time they appear. Over time and with sincere practice one builds confidence in challenging one’s challenge which reduces it’s command over you. Other strategies to build and nurture resilience include developing confidence, self-esteem, problem solving skills and managing a positive mindset. Just as trees and plants use everything available to them to fight the odds to ensure growth or survival we should harness and draw from other skills to weather and manage difficult times as we encounter them.
Next is "Adaptability".
Adaptability emerges off the back of resilience. The potency of resilience enables one to accept, adapt and achieve. For us as humans, the ability to adapt ensures minimum disruption, finding new solutions, making quick changes, ensuring survival or accomplishing something when things may not have gone exactly as planned. Adaptability ensures all is not lost when something beyond your control occurs. It allows one to maintain self-control to think, process and find alternatives to achieve a good if not better outcome.
Next in line is "Perseverance".
Consider if we had stopped persevering at the time of learning to walk, if we stopped trying because we fell ten or 20 times, would we be walking now? Continuous efforts, practice and walking for years has made us good at it, similarly struggle and failure at the beginning should never be accepted with defeat but rather with strength, courage and confidence that whatever the challenge may be it can be won over.
Finally the need for "Patience".
We tend to be driven by instant gratification, immediate responses, quick results, short term fulfilment and impulsive choices and decisions. We must pause to examine the cost, loss and pitfalls of such choices. Life teaches us that many things take as long as it takes and should not be manipulated. Entities within nature understand this perfectly.