A friend of mine who was visiting from the US commented on the diversity of trees here.  They liked that.  I was reminded of that by an illustration I heard yesterday.  I really liked it. 
It also reminded me of the “Are you OK?” movement.  I hold that up as “an answer” rather than “the answer” to a problem.  My problem is that the ones who ask, “are you ok?” are likely to have been the ones who asked it anyway.  But I am a great believer in “just because something is flawed it should not be abandoned.”  Putting a good cause in people’s consciousness has gotta help.  Truth be known I would have been abandoned a long time ago if abandoning what is flawed were the case.
Anyway, thinking about such things was brought on by an illustration.  Apparently, Redwood trees in the US can grown up to 300 feet tall.  But a ranger said though they are so tall their roots go down only three feet.  Most other trees go as deep or deeper than they are high.  That is why in storms mostly they stand - because their strength comes from their deep roots.  Yet Redwood trees go only three foot down and remain standing.
The reason they stand lies in what the roots do.  They descend three foot, then they spread out and link up and become intertwined with other redwood trees - when the storm blows the wind is battling a forest rather than a tree.
The ranger said he could show Redwood trees that had died but remained standing.  All because the other trees would not let them go.
I love that.  I admire a fine specimen, but it is the crook and imperfect  that need attention most.  From the ads and magazines, it seems society would have us believe all is well with all.  Yet real life shows that is not the case.
Sometimes I need you and at other times you need me.  We are to support each other.  If I am feeling low or in need, you have my back.  You will not let me go.  And it works the other way too.
That is what I like about “Are you ok?”  No one need face a storm alone.  Storms need not uproot but can make stronger.  But I know I must admit I need you and you need me.  If we link up, then together we can. 
Are you ok?

Today is James Clear email day and I am doing something I have never done before.  Including everything in the email.  I am doing it as it feels everything is good advice to me.
Ok the use of the word fate in the last quote seems a bit fixed, as I feel at liberty to make choices.  I may not understand the mechanics of having a free will set against everything being pre-determined, but that does not stop me feeling I am at liberty to make choices.
It can be for me that it becomes too easy not to see the wood for the trees.  I cannot dispute compromising character is a slippery road, or the value of pursuing what is natural, or the value of training hard.  Nor can I dispute the existence and value of both good and bad news.  Nor do I want to dispute the last quote which talks about fate and the value of ever experience.  I have been big on finding good in bad.  Others ay it better than I but to me it is important as life is made up of both.
"You can lose yourself one small compromise at a time. You can transform yourself one small win at a time."
"You don't have to be good at everything, you just need to double down on what you're naturally suited for."
"Train hard and focus on what you can control."
2 Quotes From Others
Scientist Donella Meadows on being proactive, yet positive:
"There is too much bad news to justify complacency. There is too much good news to justify despair."  Source: Thinking in Systems​​​
Writer and professor Joseph Campbell on loving your fate:
"Nietzsche was the one who did the job for me. At a certain moment in his life, the idea came to him of what he called "the love of your fate."
Whatever your fate is, whatever happens, you say, "This is what I need." It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment — not discouragement — you will find the strength is there. Any disaster you can survive is an improvement in your character, your stature, and your life. What a privilege!
Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes."
Source: Reflections on the Art of Living (edited lightly for clarity), Hat tip to Dylan O'Sullivan.
I like to read and pray to start the day.  I consistently read one source and read others more randomly.  Starting early is good for me but no matter when it happens, a good start is good for me.

I do enjoy the thought of a day off.  As said before it is not that I do nothing, but I do not make appointments.  I really feel it is a day when I can do stuff that needs doing around the home.  Or sleep - which I have done a number of times before.
Today is that day.  I have a few things in mind to do.  I am hoping the inspiration hits.  Though often I know something needs doing and I set a time length to the activity.  That normally works.  I may go over or under the time I have set, but I find getting started the hardest part.  Once started I often want to take it further.
Yesterday I was sitting waiting for someone to come by who was colleting me for an event I was going to that night.  I saw a cockatoo in our tree.  Merril mostly goes and gets it some seed (she is visiting her mum right now).  So that is what I did.
Sure enough, that is what it was waiting for.  It came down and had a feed.
I actually love the eyes of those birds.  They are big and beautiful birds but seem to have a nice nature too.  If the eyes are anything to go by that is not surprising.
So I have fed the birds and the fish this morning.  It is sort of a ritual.  The birds know it is feeding time and wait around.  I call them our “fly in, fly out” birds.  We recently had a tradesman come early and he commented on the number of birds present.  We like it and others do too.
Right now we were to be on a cruise.  It did not happen.  We are disappointed but as is my custom I look for the good.  It is not always immediately obvious, but it is always there when I look.
This time we have had a resolution to an issue.  Merril had a stent put in last week.  It had been incredibly disconcerting for me to hold her hand and find it was really cold on a warm day.  Now we know and have dealt with why.
So today is a day off.  What’s in store is an unknown.  I have plans but they are casual plans.