My Love/Hate Relationship with This Tree

     ​I loved this tree until I hated it.
     This Russian olive sprang up from a seed that blew in, and as it grew, I basked in the scent of its yellow flowers in the springtime and sheltered in the shade of its silvery leaves in the summer. Then it morphed into a monster - branches scraping our roof, seeds littering our driveway, thorns bloodying my arms when I tried to trim it. An invasive species!
     We needed drastic means to stop it. A chainsaw collapsed the giant onto our driveway, and a grinder reduced it to wood chips.
     I wonder whether I sometimes welcome other small seeds of invasive species into my life that grow into something I’ll regret. Like little judgements I make against others. When I judge others, I bask in the scent of feeling superior to them - I’m not like them! But this attitude keeps me from listening and admitting when I’m wrong. Or what about when I shelter in the shade of partisanship, gaining a sense of purpose by being part of a group? Do I unthinkingly accept the party line, embracing all the beliefs? Do my views harden like tree bark so I’m unable to recognize when something’s wrong? Or what about when I think “my truth” - basically my opinion - is THE truth? Do I close my mind to reality?
     I wonder what Russian olives I'm welcoming in my life that I’ll eventually have to take a chain saw to.