Week 360
Positive post Sunday, January 21, 2024…. Week 360. Over the holidays, my grandsons played baseball in our backyard, and being the creative and energetic boys they are, they decided to take all the “low hanging fruit” off my orange and lime trees to use as balls and to throw against our wall. After I expressed my displeasure, noting to myself that I did the same thing and probably worse when I was their age, we cleaned up the mess (or should I say, I cleaned up the mess😊). Note the lack of low hanging fruit in the attached photo.
After it was all over, I started thinking about the saying, low hanging fruit, which I have heard and used many times at work, referencing easy-to-accomplish tasks or easy-to-solve problems that can be won, obtained, or persuaded with little effort. There are several books written about low hanging fruit, including one by Jeremy Eden and Terri Long titled, “Low-Hanging Fruit” touting 77 Eye-Opening Ways to Improve Productivity and Profits. It’s an easy read and straightforward, a valuable guide to help businesses solve hidden problems, improve productivity, and increase their profits quickly and with little effort. Just like for my grandsons, in business, finding and acting on the low hanging fruit can result in a timely return on your investment with minimal effort (in their case, simple old fashion fun).
As those who regularly read my PPS might expect, I thought deeper about this concept of low hanging fruit and how it might apply to our personal and spiritual lives. For me, the low hanging fruit in my personal life is spending time with my family and staying physically and mentally fit, with the result being a happy, loving, and healthy family. The low hanging fruit in my spiritual life is going to Mass, reading the Bible, praying daily, and writing my PPS, with the return on investment ultimately being eternal life.
One final thought. At some point, through the grace of God, we will exhaust and hopefully institutionalize the benefits from the low hanging fruit in our lives. The good news is, there are also significant opportunities to untap sustainable benefits from elevating and expanding our thinking with a longer-term focus. Like pulling out the ladder to reach the fruit at the top of the tree, this requires a higher and longer-term effort and thoughtful approach, however the benefits can be great, and even lifechanging.
All my positive posts are now available at www.positivepostsunday.com.
What is the low hanging fruit in your personal and spiritual life?
Have you picked it, what has been your return on investment?
