There is a small tree on the wall halfway up the opposite hillside. I can't remember exactly when it grew. Maybe last year in some month. At first, it was just a little green in the cement crack. No one took care of it, so it grew slowly on its own. Little by little, it reached upward. If we put it in our words, it’s really “ambitious and eager to improve.” It doesn’t complain about the environment, nor does it pick at the soil. Whenever there’s a bit of space, it desperately roots itself in; whenever there’s a bit of sunlight, it desperately stretches upward. It’s still a small tree now, and it even looks a bit inspiring.

But what if it continues to grow like this? Its roots might crack the concrete wall. The wall could develop cracks. Looking further down, there are parked cars. One day, the wall might be pushed open, bricks loosened, and it could fall onto the cars or even hurt people. Its ending has actually been written long ago. It will be cut down. Its roots will be dug out. No one will discuss how hard it tried.

The problem isn’t that it didn’t try hard enough. Quite the opposite, it tried too hard. It just doesn’t realize where it’s growing. It doesn’t know who owns this wall. It doesn’t know who owns this land. It doesn’t know what can exist here and what can’t. It’s just thriving and growing. But in this environment, its “positive striving” is equivalent to self-destruction.

Why is the environment so important? Because the environment determines one thing: whether your upward climb is encouraged or cleared away. If you grow upward and face constant setbacks, it might not be that you’re not trying hard enough. It could also be that this structure simply doesn’t allow you to grow that way.

What is the “way” of that tree? It’s not nature. It’s not sunlight or rain. It’s people. As long as its existence threatens human interests, order, or safety, it will be dealt with. The stronger it gets, the more thoroughly it will be handled. So, its efforts, in that position, are inherently dangerous from the start.

The tree doesn’t know, but humans should know—that’s the difference.