Writer Henry Mitchell visited a region in California that is home to some of the world’s finest vineyards. His eye was caught by rows of vines that had just been pruned. It was depressing. All that was left of the once beautiful grapevines were rows of ugly-looking stumps and a few “runners” stretching from each of those stumps.

“It looks disastrous,” Mitchell remarked to his guide.

“Don’t worry, the guide replied. “We do that for three years to every vine [we cut it back] before it’s allowed to [yield] any fruit. For these vines, this was the third year. Just wait a few months, and you will see grapes nearly as big as ping pong balls!”

That’s an image to get your mouth watering--grapes as big as ping pong balls. But there’s also a lesson here for us--no pruning, no cutting back--no lus…