How to have a nice little garden with virtually no effort whatsoever, and a lesson in perseverance

There's this little area in our front yard that some previous owner apparently used to plant things in.  A couple of springs ago, Aliza and I pulled all the weeds out of it and threw a little package of random wildflower seeds in there.  This is our garden.

We don't do a darn thing to maintain it. We don't pull weeds. We don't water it or fertilize. Easiest garden ever.

Another thing we are growing without any effort at all -- this tree.

During one of our many snowstorms last winter, the snow was so heavy that it felled this tree and we had to cut what was left of it down.  I thought I had pictures of it, but I can't seem to find them.  All I can find is this.

Anyway, it used to look more or less like this:

So I'm trying to look at this little stump as an example of perseverance.  Doggedness.  Pluck.

Yesterday was a hard day.  The cat pooped on the floor and AJ walked through it, and all around the basement carpet. There was also, later in the day, a (full) box of Chex cereal knocked to the floor and a can of diet Dr. Pepper spilled.  Not a full one.  But still.

So I was ready to throw in the towel yesterday afternoon.  And then I went outside and saw this tree.  This little stump that is trying so, so hard to be a tree again.  I should try at least as hard as that little stump to keep going.

Of course, the stump never had to steam clean poop out of the basement carpet.