Simple Steps Ease Shock Of Change

Just three weeks ago, a young maple tree grew contentedly in our front yard. Now it resides in our back yard, struggling for its very life.

I didn’t uproot it from its home on a whim. My wife and I determined very logically we’d rather have the maple provide much-welcomed shade in our southern-exposure back yard in its later years than block a delightful northern mountain view we have from our living room window.

We had never transplanted a tree before. So we consulted professional experts and neighborhood experts before I embarked on this life-changing mission.

We wanted the tree to survive its move, of course. We also wanted it to suffer as little shock as possible. So we carefully planned for the tree’s major change.

Along the way, I learned much about how to transplant trees. I was also reminded of some tactics we might employ as we bump into myriad changes that face us both privately and socially.

Like I said, I consulted people who had successfully transplanted trees before. With slight variations in tactics, professionals and amateurs alike spoke of a basic, successful way to transplant. (As we anticipate certain changes in our lives, how often do we talk with people who have successfully undergone similar changes in their lives?)

I dug a hole around the tree’s drip line, even as I alternately dug a similar-size hole that would be the tree’s new home. (Change won’t likely survive in a homeless environment. It needs a new home, too, as quickly as possible. So dig yourself a hole you can live with.)

I saved as much of the root system as possible. I tried to be careful as I dug around the runner roots and the tap root. (Healthy change protects and saves the root values and worth of people who are somehow involved in whatever change is happening.)

I placed manure in the bottom of the new hole, then some of tree’s original soil on top of that, so the tree’s root-system has rich soil in which to grow again. (What emotional, spiritual, physical preparations are needed to give your proposed change its best chance to take root and thrive?)

I mixed some additional organic growth materials into the soil to give the tree added help in getting re-established in its new home. (Is there something you might do, some attitude you might display, to enhance the well-being of those undergoing change with you?)

On everyone’s advice, to reduce the shock to my tree, I mixed vitamin B-1 into the first gallons of water I poured onto the tree’s new home. (With some forethought and gentle consideration, what attitudes and actions can you take to reduce the shock that will certainly happen during a significant change?)

With the help of my neighbor, I staked the tree on four sides to reduce the winds’ power until the tree can stand by itself, confident in its root system. (Change makes us vulnerable to damaging attitudes or acts of others. What anchors you during a time of transition?)

I continue to pour copious amounts of water on the tree’s base, and I will soon give it another dose of vitamin B-1 to address the shock. (Ongoing nourishment and affirmation go a long way toward helping us deal with life-changes. Do you have those things? Do you share those things with others undergoing change?)

After I had transplanted the tree, I asked my neighbor, “How long before I get a clue whether the tree is going to make it?”

My faithlessness was exposed by her puzzled response: “I don’t know. I’ve always assumed the trees I transplanted would live. It never occurred to me they wouldn’t.”

Oops!

Hard work and unpretentious faith make transplanted trees - and change - blossom.