Ram

There was once a boy – called Ram. He was a descendant of a looong family of trees. His ancestors were the ones who brought life to Earth, by creating enough oxygen for animals to live and evolve.

But Ram had something special about him: something he didn’t want, nor liked. It was something that his family taught him, because sometimes families are carrying over traditions which do not bring good. Just because they are traditions – and none of the members dared to change (or maybe they did dare, but were not successful). This specific tradition was that “tree-boys do not cry”. It would be considered a sign of weak roots, and damaged branches. So Ram never cried – nor did he know how to cry.

Little by little, Ram grew into a beautiful teenage tree, with very nice branches, surrounded by his family and friends. Still, he was not able to cry.

This year, a lot of things happened in his life: a good friend of his decided to move her branches closer to the sun (and further away from him), his parents were both offering fruits to animals from the area (and were busy with them).

And Ram’s branches started to mix in a weird way. No matter how much he tried, his branches were getting tangled, and weighting heavier on him. Day after day, the more he tried, the tangler they became. His branches were taking over control of his life – and he felt powerless. He disappointed, he thought he was strong and brave – but it was clear he wasn’t.

The heavier and tangler they became, the smaller Ram was getting. But he kept fighting, wanting to have control again. With no success… His roots were also getting smaller, further away from the roots of the other trees – in such way, that he even stopped communicating with them (everybody knows that trees communicate through roots).

Ram was feeling lonely in this situation – and he was also moving away from the other trees. His branches were knotting together – and in doing so, they were not getting enough light. And his roots were also becoming smaller. Ram was weak.

All of a sudden, rain started to pour – and as much as he liked rain before, now he resented it. Because rain came with wind – and the wind was moving Ram left – right, weakening him.

During the rain, a small branch from a nearby friend cracked and hit Ram. And he started to scream of pain – it was so much. The branch felt so heavy. So Ram screamed, and screamed… until, out of nowhere, tears were falling down his log. And Ram cried – he couldn’t take anything anymore. And he cried and cried.

His tears reached his roots, bringing all sort of minerals with them. So his roots started to gain power again. Because of that, they managed to send enough minerals to the branches as well – and they gained strength, too!

It did not happen over night, but Ram became strong again. He was finally able to cry, and understood the power of tears.

Like us, too.

Although most of us only understand this so late..