About Your Forest
STRENGTHS:
– A diversity of sizes generally indicates some trees are better adapted and currently more important than many other smaller trees.

WEAKNESSES:
– While each tree has the potential to have long life, many are typically lost in time.
– All trees need to grow to stay important – thus it is difficult to stay at this stage for an extended period and smaller trees generally are forced out by larger trees.
– Lost trees are not gone! – see what it means to lose a tree : lose a tree
– Due to intense competition for resources, new trees tend to be rare unless replacing others, and they tend to be more susceptible to unexpected disturbances.
– Most often, the largest trees will continue to grow and the weakest will fade until there are just a few large trees and no new or small trees.

Translation: This life has a few deeply meaningful things that are going to stick with them through tough times. The main challenge is these meaninful things may take up more and more time, which can push out other less important things. For example, having a girlfriend may seem more important than doing homework and grades may suffer. This competition for your time can be difficult and this friction can make unexpected issues more frequent.

Your Previous Forest
i. Old Growth (Diverse tree sizes from incredibly important through new and full of potential – Trees are well adapted and supportive of each other)
How You Got Here
Retirement: I retired after working for 40+ years in two careers
Primary Cause of Change
Retiring = Both better and worse
How is Life Now?
Both better and worse
Age Group
60’s

Otherwise this forest is the same as Old Growth:
– There will still be several old trees, some large, some slow growing and smaller.
– New diverse uniquely adapted trees continuously establishing without taking away from existing trees.
– Small trees can maintain very slow growth for extended periods without being lost.
– This forest has been through several cycles of: Disturbance that has strengthend the remaining trees and increased species diversity.
– Deep soils (many trees lost and decomposing) create disturbance resistance and improve the ability to establish new trees.
– Trees are diverse and often intertwined (leading to mutual strength).

This forest type is rare, difficult to reach, and may not be suitable for most.
– It requires embracing change and balancing tree growth with diversity
– This includes establishing new trees that can eventually force out old less-suitable trees.
– This forest requires making decisions on which trees are best adapted for your forest.

Translation: Everyone wants to be a well-rounded person with a supportive community but it is surprizingly difficult. The main challenge is that this is not a stable ending but rather an always changing middle. To become Old Growth, the things that are meaningfull need to be supportive of each other and grow with each other. These forests are also characterized by high diversity, which tends to feel inefficient, but it can allow your resources (time, money, energy) to be used more effectively.

How to know if a new tree is better adapted?
– For example: Scuba diving could be a fun new hobby with the potential for long-term satisfaction. But scuba diving should not force out other trees like a career. Unless, of course, the scuba diving can improve upon your current career satisfaction, lifestyle, income, relationships, and the experiences to keep growing intellectually. If it can fill that niche, then quitting a “normal” job to become a scuba instructor in Fiji could be a great example of a small tree forcing out a large unhealthy tree!

Related Decisions:

to stay or move, again
What it means to lose a tree..
[gathering more community stories]