July 2023

Plant a Tree…

The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.” 

― Rabindranath Tagore

I’ve always liked that quote. It speaks to thinking of the bigger picture of the future others will inherit, a future we may not directly benefit from… I thought about this the last few weeks when I had to chance to join both our FFA Convention and 4-H Congress youth for a brief visit. I had a chance to watch them learn, lead, laugh. I saw some soar to new heights and others learn how to do even better the next time. 

More so, I saw was caring adults, some who had done so for many decades giving of their time, their energy, their experience, their compassion, and I am sure some of their own money too. Sometimes these amazing faculty, educators, volunteers will see the fruits of their labor. They may see this young person go on and achieve. Other times we may not seem them again for some time or maybe not at all, because they move. 

And while we might want to see those youth grow and become who they are, we know that is not actually why we do it. We do it because we know something about society, that helping a youth be on a path to thrive in life is good for them, good for their family, good for their community, good for the future. Maybe just maybe investing in the next generation is part of that meaning of life for some of us, I know it is for me.