Deciduous or Evergreen?

I recently purchased a digital camera and find myself "seeing" things from a different perspective. The lens zooms in and allows me to focus on the object at hand with intense specificity. Wandering around the backyard attempting to capture the perfect shot of the colors of autumn... a thought occurred to me---am I a deciduous tree or an evergreen?

For you see, I realized at that moment that people are like trees... think about it... Deciduous trees are green and thick in the summer; explode into magnificent color in the fall; release their leaves to the earth in winter; only to replenish their branches with the return of spring. Evergreens on the other hand remain steadfast, various shades of green, and lush year round.

Deciduous people don't resist change. They wear their colors for all to see regardless of the season. They know just when to explode into color and touch those around them with their inner beauty. Deciduous individuals also have the intuitiveness to know when to "fade" away, if just for a moment; and then return with the newness of spring.

Evergreens represent people that remain the same throughout their lives other than subtle changes equivalent to different shades of the same color. They are dependable, protective, predictable; change comes in the form of physically growing older. Their true selves are masked by the lushness of their loaded branches and revealed to a numbered few.

My favorite tree is the River Birch. It is deciduous and grows best along the water; even though they can be found virtually everywhere today. This tree is special to me because of the connection I have to my RIVER and because of its unique trunk. It not only produces green leaves for summer, changes beautiful colors in the fall, releases its leaves in the winter, becomes reborn in the spring; but it also sheds its bark---a steady rough peeling that reveals a smooth skin underneath.

As I focused the camera in on the colorful autumn trees I noticed something else. No matter what angle I turned the camera; no matter what position I stood in the yard; every frame included the beautiful deciduous trees AND the majestic evergreens. Side by side; growing from the same soil; so different in appearance and stature; yet trees nonetheless.

As people we walk on the same soil; some of us are deciduous; some of us are evergreens; and others are a combination of the two. We're so very different, yet living side by side just as trees do. What kind of tree am I? My intention is to strive to be a River Birch---growing, changing, colorful, finding peace close to the water, "fading" when it's appropriate, and most important continuously shedding my personal baggage while always leaving a layer of protectiveness behind to nurture the newness of me slowly being revealed. What kind of tree are YOU?