My husband and I are new to the desert and trying to grow citrus fruit. Last year, high winds whisked all the buds off the branches, so this year we brought the potted trees indoors.

They are small trees with many dozens of blossoms, each representing a potential lemon or orange. That is a lot of fruit! My husband did some digging, and it turns out that the tree will determine how much fruit it can physically support and let any extra buds drop off.

How smart is that!?

This set me to pondering, and I quickly realized that our bodies, too, know how much they can support. We just don’t always listen. We let our minds, our egos, our bravado override what our bodies are trying to tell us. That backache, migraine, upset stomach is how our body communicates with us.

We get the message, and then we dismiss it. We think of the pain as just one more thing to contend with rather than a warning sign.

I learned this lesson the hard way twenty years ago when I worked myself into five stomach ulcers. Five! As if one wasn’t enough to get my attention. Nope, I just kept working harder when the message was to work less hard.

Someday, I hope to be as smart as a fruit free.

How are you doing?

Mary