June 2
No tree stands firm that the wind has not often shaken. It is through the very shaking that it grows firm and drives its roots deeper.
On Providence, 4
Listening mode
No tree stands firm that the wind has not often shaken. It is through the very shaking that it grows firm and drives its roots deeper.
When you talk about a hard time that lies behind you, it easily takes on a direction. First came the collapse, then the holding on, and in the end you stand a little more securely than before. That is how it can be told, and perhaps it is even true.
In the middle of it, things looked different. There was no telling whether you were growing firmer or only slowly working loose. The same weeks could have led into another story. Some people tell that other one without having been any weaker than you.
What has actually changed is perhaps less your strength than your knowledge. You now know roughly where you give way, what sets you upright again and how long a single day can become. That doesn't make you thicker-skinned. More precise, if anything.
People who have never been in such a situation sometimes seem calmer than you. That calm need not be false. It just hasn't learned anything about itself yet.
