Apricot Trees and Activities

I grew up with an apricot tree.  It was a sickly thing, and every year it produced less and less fruit.  But when it did, the fruit was sweet and wonderfully fuzzy.  I hated to clean up after its droppings though.  It's like cleaning up after a dog that only goes to the bathroom once a year.  The smell, the texture, the...you know, let's move on.

Now I have the wonderful opportunity to take care of an apricot tree once more.  Last year I was right on time for the ripening season!  Except this tree is healthy, and it grew apricots like grapes!  More fruit for me!  Except, they seemed smaller than I remembered.  Meh, it's probably because I'm bigger now.  So I picked one off and bit in!

And...it wasn't sweet.  It was dense, and...unfinished.  It's probably because they're not ripe enough!  So I gave them a few more days and the tree started its customary droppings.  I plucked another apricot off and...same thing.  Not ripe.  They had the right, bright, orange color...what was the matter?  I did my research and found out you had to thin the fruit.  So I did my best, but it was already too late.  The apricots dropped with very few truly delicious fruit.

Disappointing.

This year I'm determined to do it differently!  Right now, the fruit is green and small.  So twice a week I go out (okay, fine, ONCE a week...) and thin out the bushels of fruit.  There's a lot of it, and sometimes when I look in my bucket I feel like I'm wasting fruit this way.  How could I throw away so much potential??  Still, the memory of last year reminds me that fruit need room to grow, and I'll gain a bigger, sweeter harvest this year by pulling out some of the fruit.

This got me thinking...there are A LOT of amazing opportunities in our lives.  Community events, gym memberships, movies, board games, art classes, vacations, sports events, books, holidays, service, museums, and naps.  Logic says that our lives will be better the more we experience those things.  Have you tried doing everything?  Is it better?

Because for me, I just get stressed, cranky, and bitter.

Those activities are like the apricots.  Sometimes you have to drop a bunch of things in order to really savor a few.  You have to learn when to say "no" so you can have proper time for the things that you do want to do.  Let the good stuff ripen.  Find the fullness of joy in the quality, not the quantity.

Now, I'm still afraid that I'm thinning too many apricots off my tree.  But I think it's okay.  If I do, I'll just adjust and try again next year.  If I miss an opportunity, I'll take a breath, and try again later.  Very rarely are there "one shots".  And if so, and you miss it, look for a new opportunity.  There's bound to be another one around the corner.