So much truth.

The way I see it; usually accidentally and without conscious control, we cultivate these trees in our subconscious minds - lingering thoughts and feelings - which grow on themselves and shape the lens we experience reality through. A seed is planted the first time your mind experiences something, ranging from "hugs are security" to "I'm not worth enough". Such two plants can later branch together into "I need approval from others in the form of physical affection to be secure in my worth". Our minds are these jungles of interconnected ideas and correlating chemical response cues, with the most prevalent themes determining all of how we think and feel. A happy person can come from the accident of developing more "happy" trees which outweigh the "unhappy" ones, or a happy person can be forged by taking conscious control of the subconscious forest; actively deciding which trees to cultivate and which to chop down - by cultivating opposite trees. "I will be eaten by an animal", for example, can be countered with "I am always prepared to kill predators, and such and such memories confirm this", or "I have guns which can protect me from danger". Personally, since early childhood I've cultivated a tree best described as "authority is bullshit", which built on itself whenever I could attribute some hardship to the institution of authority, drawing me to anarchism later on. I'm probably not alone in this here. When somebody has a particularly unhappy time without alcohol, it's partially because they've unwittingly cultivated a tree of "sobriety is pain". It seems like you Jeff have been actively watering and lighting a plant of "sobriety means I am happier, healthier, and more productive".

This plant symbolism may seem pointless, but in my experience, it can be a seriously helpful template for managing one's mind.