> Perched high in the White Mountains of Eastern California, this gnarled bristlecone pine stands as a testament to resilience at an elevation exceeding 10,000 feet (3,200 meters). These remarkable trees hold the record for the oldest living non-clonal organisms on Earth, with some individuals dating back nearly 5,000 years — contemporary with the construction of the Egyptian pyramids.

> The environment that nurtures these ancient sentinels is unforgivingly harsh. Bitter cold, fleeting summers, relentless winds, and nutrient-poor soil would seem to promise certain death for most living things. Paradoxically, these extreme conditions are precisely why bristlecone pines not only survive but flourish. Their incredibly slow growth results in wood so dense and robust that it becomes virtually impervious to insects, disease, and the erosive forces that would destroy less tenacious organisms.

What I take from this is that it's okay to grow slowly.