“Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
While this quote would obviously be taken as a reference to plant life, in reality, the statement goes much deeper. Throughout our lives, we are educated, groomed, meet trials and tribulations that shape and mold us. Those processes create the roots that carry us through our existence – how we perceive the world around us and ourselves. It’s during this time we form a general grasp of what we can and cannot do under any given circumstance. But life has a way of throwing curveballs we could never predict, let alone prepare ourselves for.
The world’s coldness will quake our very beings. At that point, we would’ve forgotten everything we expected and assumed would happen, shivering with fear. But there is hope. Those who have allowed their roots to spread and dig deep before the winter of life sets in are the same ones who will be able to find inner-strength given and cultivated in them. For others, this is the time where their roots wither up and die, or survive and strengthen. You must continue to let your roots of inner-strength grow larger and dig deeper so when life’s frost finally does touch your soul, you will only shudder before moving on with the warmth of your own personal stalwartness.
