A Money Tree
A Money Tree. It does grow on trees, you just have to make it happen!
Damn. There is always a catch, isn’t there?
Stories of instant fame, fortune, success…usually aren’t all that instant. What we fail to see at that moment is all the hard work and effort that went into getting there. Even a lottery winner has most likely invested large sums of money on buying losing tickets before they purchase that winning ticket. The guy that finds that priceless antique in a box at a yard sale has probably spent countless hours at yard sales, on EBay, and at thrift stores wading through tons of junk before finding that treasure.
It takes effort. It takes work. It takes consistency and persistence to get what you truly desire. And that is not a bad thing.
Really, it isn’t.
It is difficult to appreciate what is simply handed to us. Yeah, it might feel good but if you really stopped to think about it, it is a short lived good feeling. That is because it isn’t so much the thing we want that brings us joy and fills our soul but rather the road to getting it. Deciding, figuring it out and putting yourself into it is what brings long lasting satisfaction. Knowing we accomplished what we set out to do, every step of the way.
It builds our self esteem. Our confidence. Our will. When we look back and see all the things we did to get where we are, we develop healthy pride in ourselves and a knowledge that we can do anything we want, as long as we put effort into it.
I don’t like to just give gifts for the sake of giving gifts. I want to demonstrate to the recipient that I put time, effort and thought into celebrating their accomplishment. After all, they worked hard to get there.
A hundred dollars in an envelope is good but they will forget about it as quickly as they will spend that money. Giving them a hundred dollars on a tree with 30 hand rolled money flowers on it, they won’t forget that any time soon. Plus, in order to spend the money, they have to take the tree apart. They will most likely not want to do that for just anything and they will wait to chop down their tree until they really desire something special.
Instant gratification might come with a momentary good feeling but effort and work have long lasting, life changing benefits that are priceless.
