David Boucher‘s furniture is the most expensive furniture on the planet. A desk goes for $80,000, tables go for $200,000 and a chess set for $18,000. His company Boucher & Co. is the only company on earth commissioned to provide a custom interior for Rolls Royce vehicles. There is a waiting list for his furniture from millionaires and billionaires world over despite the very high prices. This shows that you set your standards and people are always willing to pay for the best! This further shows that the mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled as Plutarch once said.
Last month, I shared about the Redwood trees, The Chinese Bamboo and The Palm Tree. This month, I share how these three species can help you transform your life! And not small transformation but grand transformation. Now you know what that means since transformation is more powerful than change!
THE REDWOOD TREES
From last month’s article (that I have copied in segments for your ease of reading), we see a breakdown of the features of this tree specie as below;
“The redwood trees (Latin name – sequoia sempervirens) in California are the largest and tallest trees in the world. They grow over 300 ft up in the air but have roots that only go down 3 to 12 ft into the ground. They have a lifespan of over 2000 years and have been around as a species for over 240 million years. They have trunks of 8 to 20 ft in diameter and grow 100 ft in 50 years (compare to Chinese Bamboo 90 to 100 ft in 6 weeks).
Redwood trees capture carbon-dioxide more than any other tree on earth. They have a bark of 1 ft thick which contains tannin that protects the tree from fire, insects, fungus and diseases. There is no known insect that can destroy a redwood tree. Compared to human lifespan, a 50-150 years old tree is equivalent to about age 2-6 years old in human beings.
The secret why the redwood trees don’t fall during storms is because their roots intertwine with the roots of the neighbouring redwood trees. The roots for each tree grow over 50 ft sideways. So, when there is wind, its not blowing against one individual tree, its blowing against the entire forest.
The other fascinating thing is a tree can remain standing upright for hundreds of years after death. The only reason why they stay standing is because the other trees don’t let them go!”
This month, we apply this to human life. Sometimes, you are required to take it slow and grow at a slow pace. Growing a shallow but wide foundation intertwined with that of your team and family. Ensuring that you grow so tall with guarantee of your family and team holding you firm in crisis. You will be required to have a thick skin that is impenetrable. Even after you die, your legacy is even more powerfully established, nurtured and maintained by your family. If this resonates with you, it could be the same with your children and family since, as Margaret Mead said, ‘Children must be taught how to think and not what to think.’ Could you be a Redwood tree character?
THE CHINESE BAMBOO
Below is last month’s description of this specie for your ease of relation with the lessons we could borrow from it;
“The Chinese Bamboo takes 5 years to germinate after it has been planted. Nothing happens on the surface in the first four years of daily watering, fertilising and tendering. However, in these initial 4 to 5 years, growth of the tough root system that supports the 90 ft tree which grows in just 6 weeks is taking place. After germination (in the 4th to 5th year after planting), it sprouts and grows at an astronomical rate of at least 2 ft a day up to and over 84 ft in 6 weeks. You can literally watch it grow if you sit and stare at it.
What many people don’t understand is that bamboo is just a grass specie and not a tree specie. But fascinating is this Chinese bamboo is stronger than steel and an essential material for earth quake architecture.
Chinese bamboo was commonly used as an ancient herbal medicine which has been used for thousands of years in China and the Asias mainly because of its tonic and astringent qualities and the fact that it is considered an aphrodisiac whose ancient remedies are still used in many health and body care products today.”
This is for you if you have waited for so long or have been told to have weak genes. This is a grass specie that is more rigid than most tree specie. You could be incapacitated physically, mentally, spiritually, financially or other ways but this is not enough to write you off. Allow nature help you build your root structure so that when your shoot structure finally germinates, it will even be an awe to you yourself. No experience or directed time is ever wasted. Don’t get excited about ideas only to lose the patience in waiting for them to blossom. Dig your ground and plant your idea, take time to nurture it and when the time comes, it will outgrow those that germinated 5 years earlier. Don’t ever ever give up. Pursuing your dream is a sure thing if you don’t give up.
Another fatal mistake with this type is with uprooting your seed and planting elsewhere because your neighbour’s mango tree is flourishing. You are not the same material. Your value is higher and thus needs more concentration and a deep foundation. Not necessarily wide but very deep to absorb the speed at which you are going to grow. In my fourth book entitled, ‘Achieve Your Dreams’, I wrote, ‘Why therefore do we expect things to just happen or pray for a dream house you have never thought about and expect a miracle. My mentor once told me, ‘I believe in miracles but I don’t believe in magic. A miracle is when you plant 100 seeds and harvest a million. Magic is when you plant nothing and expect to harvest 2 million.’
Could this be your character description?
THE PALM TREES
Last month, I described this tree specie as follows;
“Palm trees are another type of tree with 230 genera and over 3000 species that grow up to 197 ft tall. What’s fascinating is some palm trees have been found to have over a mile depth of root structure thus can only be bent but not broken in the fiercest of storms and hurricanes.
They have the largest seed of any plant on earth that can be as large as 20 inches (1.67 ft) in diameter and as heavy as 66 pounds (30 kgs)! However, palm fruits vary enormously. Some are no bigger than a pea. The fruit of the coco-de-mer coconut palm is the biggest seed in the world as described above.
The fronds grow from the main bud at the top of a tall thin trunk. If the main bud at the top of the trunk is damaged, the tree will stop growing and die. They do not get thicker like other trees; they simply grow taller. Some palm trees have trunks no bigger than a pencil.
The world’s largest leaves are those of the Raffia palm, which grows up to 20m (66ft) long. Palm trees are a very ancient group of plants, and fossil palm trees have been found dating back 100 million years to the time of the dinosaurs.
Date Palm Trees have been cultivated in the hottest parts of North Africa and the Middle East for at least 5000 years. Muslims regard it as the tree of life.”
This is for you if your life is one of turbulence and extreme conditions and not necessarily fast growth. You need a mile of foundation tapping the water bed and beyond because you will be needing that water in desert conditions and other challenging moments other people may not be able to go through. You may also need this deep root structure because you maybe stationed at the beach where hurricanes and storms may hit. Remember these conditions can at worst bend you but not break you. Even after the heaviest storm on the planet, you still have the capacity to produce the heaviest and largest fruits on the planet.
Could this specie be your character description?
I am going to dissect this further with deeper breakdown in the months to come. In these further dissections is when I will link these species to David Boucher.
Wellness always,
Tonny Rutakirwa,
Chairman,
Tonniez Group Holdings