A cautionary tale: The tree of problems

A man made the decision to repair an old farm he had in the country. He hired a carpenter to help him through the whole process.

One day he approached the farm to check on the progress of all the work. He arrived early and started helping the carpenter. That day, things didn't seem to be going well for him. His power cutter had run out of battery, wasting two hours of his time. Later, a power outage had cost him another hour. Late in the afternoon he ran out of glue and was unable to finish the tasks he had scheduled for that day. As if that wasn't enough when he was getting ready to go home, his truck wouldn't start. In this situation the owner of the farm offered to take him.

As they walked through the landscapes of the area, the carpenter was silent. He looked sad and tired after such a bad day. After a thirty-minute walk they arrived at the carpenter's house, and surprisingly invited him to meet his family. As they walked to the door, the carpenter paused for a few seconds in front of a small, deep green tree. He touched several branches carefully with his hands as he admired the precious leaves.

When he opened the door, an incredible transformation took place. His face was full of smiles, satisfaction and joy. His children pounced on him. He kissed his wife and introduced him. He invited him over for a beer and a tasty pie. After saying goodbye, he walked him to the car.

When they passed by the tree again, he could not help but wonder what he had done a while before in front of the tree.

Ohh, that's my problem tree, he replied.

And then he proceeded to explain and said: I know that I can't avoid having difficulties in my work, mishaps and mood swings. But one thing is for sure: These problems don't belong to my wife, let alone my children. So I just hang them on the "trouble tree" every night when I get home. Then in the morning I pick them up again, because I have to fix them. The funny thing is, the carpenter said with a smile, that when I go out in the morning to pick them up, there are not as many problems as I remember hanging up the night before.

The owner of the farm got into his car, meditating on the carpenter's strategy to be happier and avoid contaminating the home with work problems. He arrived at the farm and set out to select his tree of problems. And since then, every time he came home, they knew the first thing he did.

And now ask yourself, in the absence of a tree, where would you hang your problems?