My Sunday Thought for 111217: Low Hanging Fruit

"Portrait of a Child"

-- (circa 1632) Gerard van Honthorst

"If I be wicked, woe unto me..."
                                                -- Job 10:15

The poor man of late fifty years, having humble part-time employment on an office cleaning crew, pulls a pittance for wages.  He lives in a one room efficiency apartment atop a small garage belonging to an older woman in need of a few extra dollars.  The furnishings are meager with a space heater for cooler nights and a ceiling fan for the warmer.  A well-used bistro table sits in front of the lone, small, double-hung window.  The tables wear is covered by a well-ironed red and white checkerboard tablecloth and flanked, one at either side, by equally worn folding wooden chairs.  At the table's center sits a narrow glass vase with a single freshly cut daisy. Next to a door leading into a small three-quarter bathroom is a small "butler's" kitchen of hotplate, sink, and compact refrigerator.  Several dishes and glasses sit neatly on open shelves above the small kitchen counter.  A 'single' bed occupies another wall next to an antique armoire shining from a fresh coat of furniture oil.  Sitting atop the armoire is an AM/FM radio, equal in age and wear to the other furnishings and emitting tinny tunes from a local jazz station.  Next to the radio, a dog eared copy of the King James Bible, a donation from The Gideon's, and pinched long ago from some hotel room nightstand.  

The man surveys the room with a critical eye, broom in one hand and a dustpan holding the day's offerings in the other.   Having made and lost much, he smiles as he considers the current richness of his life.  He has grown to understand it isn't about earning the material collection of crap in one's life which is, for all intents, simply a "hobby" to occupy one's time; it is about living the experience of life, each and every day.  He wakes each morning to give thanks and praise God for another glorious day in paradise, and another chance to excel in the God's gift of life.  The room is a reflection of his life; well-worn with age but neat and clean, orderly and presentable, humble in its simplicity and, yet, still appealing to the eye.  Could it be more?  Absolutely, but for now, this is living life in the moment and tomorrow is another day.

“The first rule about the low hanging fruit principle is to always watch out for low hanging branches, they’re the ones to take it away from you.”

-- Stephen Richards, author, film director/producer

We tend to go through our lives picking at the easily reached low hanging fruit, while considering how to approach the richer offerings higher up.  Most of us will struggle with this task our entire lives, never taking a moment to stand back and consider the moment.  Our lack of consideration can affect how we go about our struggle.  Some of us will fall from grace instead of holding to those higher values and ethical conduct which are of so much more importance than any lofty goal.  We will die wondering what we did - and why.  We find that the fruit we taste might not be as sweet as expected, and comes with a hidden price.  After a while some of us will get down off the wobbly ladder and look up at the tree still heavy with fruit.  We will walk back several yards to sit cross-legged while feeling the warmth of the sun on our face as we take in the whole of the tree... and breathe.  Some of us will count our blessings, realizing we are happy with what we have.  A few of us will ask forgiveness and seek a more constructive, enlightened, path.

"This is my bread and butter. The best feeling in the world, people seeing your content for free, without you having to plug it on Social Media every now and again to get it current again. With the low hanging fruit principle, it will allow you to build it up, as your content grows and you still stick to that principle so will your traffic."

-- My Passive Income Diary, "What Is The Low Hanging Fruit Principle"

What is the difference between the fruit at the top and that at the bottom?  If truth be told, not much. The low hanging fruit principle is as important in one's personal life as it is in business.  Low hanging fruit is accessed with your feet planted firmly on the ground, while the higher, more desirable bounty requires a constant balancing act up a ladder of great height from which many have fallen.  When the quest becomes life, survival, falling can be painful and hard to recover from.  Better to always view the quest as simply a quest, something to be attained as one can.  Don't be in a rush, outfit yourself with appropriate gear and knowledge, be safe, and rest often.  Most important is to always remember from whence you came, this way, if you fail at your quest, you can always return to firmer ground without injury and able try again another day.  To approach life in any other way is simply a gamble, a crap shoot, and sooner or later, the house always wins.

"Set your goals high enough to inspire you and low enough to encourage you."

-- Anonymous

We tend to take life much too seriously.  We paint ourselves into a corner full of traffic jams, deadlines, and debt, as we risk cancer, alcoholism, heart disease, high cholesterol, and stress, rushing to gather all the "fruit" we can before we die, and for what?  These are the people who, listening to the government, greedily opt to take their social security at 70 years of age so they can get almost double what they would if they opted for the early retirement at 62 so they could enjoy what life they may have left.  Many don't consider what the stress of their life does to their life expectancy, and they forget that the gamble for more is always in favor of the house.  The government hopes you opt for more because they know they'll be paying less in the long run.  This gamble usually pays off for those with little or no stress in life.  The rest of us go fishing and are found dead, hours later, with a pole in our hand and a fish on the line.  How sad is that?

What many of us find with age is how much life we missed while trying to live life,  Somewhere along the way we forget our lives are all about the journey and not some destination, some goal, which we might not live to attain.  Reaching for the low hanging fruit is to live in the present; it is being happy with what you have in the now and what life has dealt you up to this point.  Sometimes the low hanging fruit is enough.  With patience, understanding, and knowledge, the desirable fruit, higher up, will probably drop within reach in due time.  What is the point of killing yourself before you can enjoy the fruits of your labor, and what is the point of laboring for fruit just to keep up with your neighbors?  We can't live our neighbor's path; we can only live our own.

The point of life is... to live!

“If you want to be happy, do not dwell in the past, do not worry about the future, focus on living fully in the present.” 

― Roy T. Bennett, inspirational author

Editor's Note 

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with an Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, to wage his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as Chaplain Program Liaison, at a regional medical center.