I asked a carpenter to help me fix an old farm house, and after he had just finished a rough first day on the job, a flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw stopped and now his ancient truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.
As we walked towards the front door, he stopped briefly at a small tree touching tips of the branches with his hands. When opening the door, he went amusing transformation. His serious face was lighted in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
After leaving the happy family, I passed the tree and my surprise got the better of me. I asked him, who walked me to the car, "Before we went in, why did you stop by the tree earlier?" "Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job and in my life, but those troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and children. I know I can control one thing for sure. I can hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again before I leave for work. "
"Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before. "
