Only good trees are pelted!

When we were kids, my brother and I used to go pluck mangoes ‘illegally’ from a neighbor’s house. We were not the only culprits. Other kids in the neighborhood did, too. We would go and pelt two particular trees severally with stones when the mango season was due.

Year after year, it was noticeable that we pelted those particular trees anytime we barged into this neighbor’s house. All the others were left unattended to as though they didn’t exist.

One fateful day, I asked my elder brother why we always threw stones at those particular trees and not the others. He sighed, “Well. The other trees are not fruitful. We don’t have to waste our time on them. Only good trees are pelted!”

Indeed, only good trees are pelted. Only fruitful trees are stoned. No one wastes time on fruitless trees. No sane person will go harvesting fruits from trees that bear none.

I have come to learn this simple principle of life that if people attack you at the slightest opportunity, at least, it means you are yielding fruits of some sort. No one wastes time on fruitless people. No one, on a usual day, will pick a quarrel, for instance, with a mad man. No one pelts stones at mud houses!

In this New Year, know that you need sense to take nonsense. You should know which battles to fight and the others you should let pass. Fighting some battles are needless. It will only smear your integrity. Some opposition only comes with your position. Some hurdles will only come your way when you attain new levels. And… it’s because you are a good tree.

When such hindrances come, do not fret. Do not get into the mud to fight pigs. They would get themselves dirty and have nothing to lose after all. But… you may have everything to lose. Petty people will lure you into the mud and whip you with experience. Ignore them.

Always remember that only good trees are pelted. Only fruitful people are always under criticism; both constructive and destructive. Only good people are often pelted with accusations and what have you. Why!? It’s because they’re good. They’re fruitful. They have their fruits to lose while others have absolutely nothing to lose.

When others talk behind you, at least, it means you’ve something good in the inside. No one pelts fruitless trees. It is insane to throw stones at dead trees. When people talk behind you, obviously it means you’re in front of them. It means you’ve a dash of gold inside. Don’t take it too hard on yourself. It is a sign, at least, that you’re a good tree.

This New Year should be your new year; a year of a new being. Focus your energy on the right people. Redirect your passion to the right things. As long as you’re bearing fruits of some sort, stones will be pelted at you. As long as you are making something good out of your life, others will find every opportunity to stab you in the back and often in the dark. Ignore. Don’t fight them. Don’t waste your breathe on them. Don’t try explaining yourself. Don’t try even apologizing. You owe no one an apology for being the good you. Besides, only good trees are pelted!

Others have a way of getting on our nerves. As long as we work in human institutions and don’t live solitary lives, others may jab us for no reason. We will get misjudged for things we do. Others will paint our kind acts as ones done in our selfish interest. They will wish for our failure. When we stumble, they will wish we fell to rise no more. However, in all of such, know that it comes with being a good tree. It comes with being a fruit-bearing tree. Only good trees are pelted!

Take all the accusations and lies leveled against you in good faith. Perceive them as battles that come with being not just you but a good you. Don’t belittle your value by fighting such. Let them go. Kings fight prominent battles, not petty ones.

In this New Year, when you hear those rumors and hearsays, don’t let them weigh you down. Don’t be put off because of another’s petty stones pelted at you. People throw stones at glass houses to know whether they will indeed break. Be that stone-proof glass house. Don’t give pettiness attention. Don’t give nonsense permission to infiltrate your sense in 2017! Inasmuch as you keep yielding fruits, stones will be pelted at you. Guess what. The more we plucked the mangoes, the more the good trees bore good fruits. Good trees indeed don’t lose their productivity when they are pelted with stones. Don’t lose your good taste. Don’t lose your kindness. Don’t lose your big heart.

Keep giving back love for hatred. Keep sowing goodness for others’ evil. Wish them well. There’s no revenge as sweet as heaping coals of kind acts on the heads of people who wished us evil.

Don’t break down because of unfounded allegations. Only good trees are pelted. In 2017, I’ve made a bold decision to sieve what gets to my heart and what stops at my ears. Hope you do same, too. Happy New Year, friends!

The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), a writing company based in Accra. Get interactive with him on his Facebook page, Kobina Ansah.