Sometimes the best reminders come from the most unexpected places.  My family enjoyed the time proven tradition of going to get our Christmas tree yesterday.  After looking at many trees, we all decided upon one tall evergreen that would fill our house this holiday season.  It seemed like the perfect tree…. until we got it into the house.

My eldest son and husband carried it into the house to find it was too tall so it had to be trimmed.  After struggling it into the stand (twice!), I was in charge of making sure it was straight and that the best side was facing forward.  After studying it from every angle, I found that there really wasn’t a perfect angle.  The leader was off center, the branches were sparse in some spots and crowded in others, it was not symmetrical. I love Christmas and the tree is an important part of our decorations. I resigned to the fact that our tree would be “fine” but was secretly disappointed in it.  Until…

After the tree sat in the stand for several hours, I decided to put the lights onto it.  My daughter and youngest son helped me string them around and around.  When we were done, my little one peered up into the tree with pure delight in his eyes.  He proclaimed our tree was just ‘perfect’!  He pointed out how pretty she looked (the kids named the tree “Carol” since we love to listen to Christmas Carols throughout the season).  He was so thrilled with our creation.  I stopped and listened to him praise our tree and all of a sudden, it became very clear to me.

Our tree was beautiful.  Not because of its perfect features, but because we deemed it so.  With our family working together, the tree transformed into more than an item.  It became part of our home.

So, what does this have to do with marketing?  It’s relationships.  No one (or thing) is perfect. Things don’t make us successful.  We must pour sincere effort into creating something valuable. Additionally, we must mindfully position ourselves with a positive frame of mind to see the depth of our relationships.  That’s what it’s all about.