A Walk, a Tiny Oak Tree, and a Reminder I Needed

I was out on my morning walk today, just letting Toby do his thing, when I noticed a tiny oak tree growing close to a much bigger one.

It made me stop for a moment.

That little tree hadn’t planned where it would grow. It hadn’t waited for the “right time” or the “perfect conditions”. It had simply landed there — whether dropped nearby, carried by the wind, or even delivered via a bird flying overhead — and started growing anyway.

And the more I thought about it, the more it stayed with me.

Because we don’t really live like that, do we?

We wait. We plan. We tell ourselves we’ll start when things feel clearer, calmer, more certain. When we’ve learned a bit more, healed a bit more, figured things out a bit more.

There’s always something else that needs to happen first.

And before we know it, we’re still standing in the same place, waiting for a version of life that might never arrive.

But nature doesn’t work like that.

Seeds don’t get to choose where they land. Some fall right next to where they came from. Others travel miles. Some land in rich soil, others somewhere far less ideal.

Some are carried gently by the wind. Others… well… arrive in slightly less glamorous ways.

And still — they grow.

Not all of them, of course. But enough do.

That tiny oak tree isn’t worrying about whether it’s in the perfect spot. It isn’t comparing itself to the bigger tree next to it or wondering if it should have started somewhere else.

It’s just growing with what it’s been given.

And I wonder how different things might feel if we allowed ourselves to do the same.

To stop waiting for everything to line up.
To stop believing we need to feel completely ready.

To trust that growth doesn’t come from perfect conditions — it comes from beginning.

Because maybe we don’t need to have it all figured out.

Maybe we’re allowed to start exactly where we are, even if it doesn’t look ideal, even if it doesn’t feel certain.

Because if something as strong as an oak tree can begin life in the most unplanned of places…

maybe we can too.

K x

If this resonated with you, you’re always welcome to email me. I read every message.