Treeing It

By: Jason Sharp

I heard a story once, (a lot of good preacher stories start like this because we hear a lot of good stories and the sources of where we heard them get lost in time)—A man was watching a group of marathon runners as they struggled up a hill during a later part of the race. Every once in a while, a runner would seem to pull out of the race toward the side of the road where line of tree was located. Each runner would keep their pace while touching one of these trees, then they would move on. The practice is known as “Treeing It.” The runners are beginning to hit a wall with their endurance. The pain of their physical activity is starting to get to them, by touching the tree they play a mental game of passing their pain to the tree.

So, the last time I was at the Coffman Y, I didn’t see a tree in the wellness center--- I’m not even sure there is a Ficus tree in there (nope, just check the pictures on the website). So how are we average Joes and Janes going to Tree It when we hit the wall? Well, the floor is there, we could tag it, we could have a spot on the wall or each piece of equipment that we reach for as well. Whatever pain we’re going through, at that moment, we give it away to the object that we touch.

Now, exercise is one thing, but I can personally testify to having those days where life was just a bit more than I thought I could handle and I needed “Tree It.” I needed to find a release value for stress. Funny enough, a good workout, especially jumping into the pool because I enjoy the water so much is awesome. A few laps in the pool seem to wash away the overwhelming negative that I was carrying around and energizes me to continue the good fight.

This process takes a few steps. First, you’ve got to be able to recognize when you are approaching or at least have reached your limit before you go over it. Second, step out from your routine day-to-day; pushing through or going through the motions is the opposite of this process and will simply lead you to going over the limit. Finally, Tree your pain, your overwhelmed feelings, all the negative that is against you. Some self-knowledge and awareness can go a long way to keep you “in the race.”

This is about taking a time out for yourself, re-centering to your purpose, and coming back rejuvenated for more. There are a lot of practices that can help you get there, the ones you enjoy, the ones that speak to your soul, are the best; but sometimes it’s “any port in a storm” and you reach out for the nearest “tree” that is available to you. Someone I really admire once found himself outside in a hostile meeting confronted by people trying to entrap him, in the middle of it he bent over and drew in the dirt[1]. One can ask what Jesus might have wrote in the dirt, but did you notice how he took the timeout before responding? It was important enough for Jesus to do it and runners have to in order to finish a race, perhaps we could learn from this for our lives (or at least exercise routines) too?