Who Are the Apples For?

By Steve Gwisdalla

Quick question. What do apple trees eat? Do they grow the apples, so they fall and feed the very tree on which they were just growing? Those who have studied botany will tell you the purpose of a tree’s fruit is to grow and propagate more trees. Biologists will tell you that when an animal eats an apple and then answers nature’s call, the seeds will be spread all over the forest. The philosopher could tell you how many apples can be produced by a single seed placed in the ground. I am a life coach. A career coach. I am someone who helps people find things inside themselves they either didn’t know they have or forgot they have and help them rediscover and grow. And as a coach and a person who advocates for more joy my answer to the question is simple.

Apple trees do not grow apples to eat them. They grow them to give them away. Science can easily explain how this happens. If no one takes the apples, they rot and the seeds die and not long after, the tree will grow old, die, and disappear. It grows the apples to give them away. Even if the tree is distressed, it still produces apples. The apples are the absolute best of the tree.  They are certainly the most pleasing to the eye, touch, and taste. When I recently heard this analogy, the realization was instantaneous that this is exactly what we do in the Tribe of Up. We grow our “fruit” to give it away.

How can we accomplish this? How can we, in our Tribe of Up give our fruit away? Look around. There are people, organizations, non-profits, schools, and families that need our fruit. Whether it is donating a little food to a pantry, your time to an organization or supporting community causes near and dear to you, our apples are needed more than ever. There are other ways to share our fruit as well. Shop and buy local. Support your local school district. Respect our teachers. Be kind. Start a new conversation from the point of view that the person you are talking to has had a very rough day and to be kind to them. You will be amazed how differently a conversation can go when you start with a giving mindset.

Apple trees were never meant to eat their own fruit. Resist the urge to hoard your apples. Give them away. Give them away with a smile and warmth in your heart and wait and see how many other fruits come back to you from others. An apple a day keeps the negative, polarizing, chicken littles away.

Steve is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Chief Apple Giver, Vice President of Up and Genuinely Happy Dude at Better Place Consulting, a career, success, and life coaching firm. Reach out to Steve at [email protected].