The Problem Tree

The Problem Tree

The carpenter that I had contracted to help me repair an old barn had just finished a hard first day of work.  His electric saw had malfunctioned causing him to lose an hour of work and now his old pick up truck refused to start.  While I was taking him home, he sat in silence.  Once we arrived at his house, he invited me in to meet his family.

While we were heading toward the door, he stopped briefly in front of a small tree touching the tips of the branches with both hands.  When the door opened, a surprising transformation occurred.  His tanned face, previously tired and worried, filled with smiles.  He hugged his two small children, and he kissed his wife. After a brief stay, he accompanied me back out to the car.  When we passed near the tree, I remembered what I had seen, and so I and asked him, compelled by my curiosity, about what I had seen him do a few moments before.

“Oh, that is my Problem Tree,” he answered.  “I know I can’t avoid having problems at work, but one thing is certain.  Those problems don’t belong at home, and I mustn’t take them out on my wife or my children.  So, I simply hang the problems on the tree every night when I get home.  Then, the next morning, I pick them up again.  The funny thing is,” he said with a smile, “that when I go out in the morning to pick them up, there aren’t ever as many problems as the ones I remember having hung there the night before.”

What problems do you have that you need to hang up overnight in order to gain a new perspective in the morning?

From Cuentos con Alma by Rosario Gómez, Santiago: Por un mundo mejor, 8th edition, 2003