Flexibility

I had a college professor once who told us about what kind of tree she wanted to be like.

She said she once wanted to be like the mighty oak, strong and firm, but over time came to realize it was far better to be a palm tree instead. Not because you get to live in the most wonderful year-round climate, but because unlike the mighty and firm oak, the palm tree would sway in even the slightest of breezes.

At this point in the lecture, I had an "aha" moment and realized how very much like the palm tree I was, that even the slightest of "breezes" could set me to swaying like there was no tomorrow. It wouldn't be until much later that I took this further, this lesson on flexibility.

The professor was saying that it is better to be like a palm tree in most cases, because while the little breezes wouldn't really ruffle the leaves of the mighty oak, it would have a hard time surviving the harshest winds of life. A big storm, one of life's really big storms would send it crashing down, broken and mangled. But, the palm tree, while it does sway violently at the slightest of provocations is not going to be broken by life's big storms. The palms may lose some leaves here and there in a hurricane but they will still be standing when the storm passes. They will come out the other side.

The palm trees natural flexibility and ability to bend is what makes it such a wonderful example of how a person should be. Able to bend but not break. The flexibility to move with the changes life naturally brings.

America was challenged 10 years ago today. We felt like we'd broken, but in reality we'd just been bent over to the point of the tops of us touching the ground but we were not broken. We would bound back up again, maybe not overnight, we eventually found the ability to straighten back up and keep on growing. We weathered a fierce storm, a massive storm that took lives, tested our endurance, and showed us we could triumph through the tears.

I didn't personally know anyone who was killed in the attacks, but did come to learn two high school acquaintances who were close calls. One was at the Pentagon when it was hit, one was late to work at the WTC that day. But, I remember the shock and pain of seeing my country under attack and feeling it personally.

I then immediately put aside all my personal feelings and went to work as a student journalist at the K-State Collegian covering everything from how our state capital and the neighboring military installation were responding to the current threat to the blood drives that were being set up all over the area. I spent the day writing about the attacks, covering student reactions, researching and more writing. I was exempt from my classes in my journalism school as we all were expected to be working and I missed the political science classes also. I did go to marching band that day, late, and remember walking into the rehearsal hall. As I opened the doors to the rehearsal room, all eyes were on me and the director asked me in front of everyone what I had learned, what was going on, as he knew I was on the Collegian staff. I didn't have anything new to share with the band, but I could feel all the eyes of the 250+ members on me as they eagerly awaited any news I could give them. I said I knew nothing more than we had been the victims of a terrorist attack. I remember saying that and not really understanding what it meant, but that it was the "phrase of the day" we all had been tossing around. The director then gave a small speech about how this was a day none of us would ever forget but that we would beat them and we would begin beating them right then and there by continuing with life as we knew it and we did. We watched the film from the previous weeks football game of our two shows then we proceeded out to the field to rehearse the next show. At some point, a plane flew over head and we all stopped what we were doing, knowing all aircraft had been downed, and looked at each other and knew we'd seen either Air Force 1 or a decoy plane pass over head. If the President was on the move, it must be even bigger then what we were seeing on the news. We looked at each other in disbelief. Then we kept on practicing.

After band, I went back to the newsroom and when the work was done I went with a friend to her apartment complex where we had a beer and sat in the hot tub watching the sunset. She and I looked at each other and I remember saying our lives as we knew it would never be the same.

America showed the world and ourselves that day and in the days that followed that we were all like palm trees. We were able to bend and sway in the face of a violent storm but we were not broken. We'd lost limbs, we lost leaves and pieces of us were gone and not repairable, but we were not broken. We would straighten back up and we would be stronger, more flexible, for the losses we'd endured and the changed landscape we would find ourselves living in. We were a mighty palm tree. Mighty and fierce in our flexibility.

I'm finding that at times my personal flexibility is tested and that sometimes its better to be an oak then a palm. I'm finding that sometimes I'd rather take the chance of breaking and crashing down than I would at being so flexible all the time. I've found in my aging process that I'm not as flexible as I once was and I've grown to accept this. I don't know if I'll come crashing down, but it's a chance I'm willing to take.

But, as to the flexibility of my nation, I'm proud of our palm tree status. We can bend and sway, we can lose limbs and leaves, but we will stand straight again and await the next storm and in the meantime we will mourn as we bask in the glorious sunlight, knowing we can endure when the skies turn stormy again.