A feisty yellow flower bloomed bravely from a crack in a stucco wall. Her roots clinging only to bits of dirt, she drank in the humid air and nodded playfully to the rhythm of the scarce breeze. Courageous? Defiant? Resourceful?
Resolute, I think. Cradled inside a papery seed that the wind dropped into a hostile, intimidating environment, she bloomed where she was planted. That little flower appeared content to accept each moment as if she had chosen it, gracing those who bothered to notice, with fragrance, color and delicate beauty, sowing seeds captured by the wind and carried to new quests.
Our thoughts are like seeds, matchless and new. Each one is packed with possibilities, threads of dreams, kernels of change and glimmers of the future. You decide how your garden grows. Which seed will you cultivate until it sprouts, roots and grows and which will lay in fallow ground to wither and fade?
Do you nurture a garden that is small and carefully pruned to keep out the weeds and marked by a perfectly square Keep Out warning sign? Perhaps it is expansive, roaming over hills, across bridges and around streams, its flora left to nature and chance.
Does it tantalize with beauty in rainbow shades, welcome with exotic scents and speak in rustling leaves and petals? It may be unkempt, clogged with tangled creepers that conceal the path, and gnarly vines with thorny fingers that hinder your progress. Is it your clone or your antithesis?
The best garden is not static. New seeds of thought when they arrive can replace outmoded ones or inspire new ideas. They can stimulate you to whack away at the flourishing forest of dilemmas created by faulty concepts and mindsets and repopulate with positive positions that move you forward.
Some thoughts may give you a purpose that will energize and inspire you to take on new challenges, to reach out to new people and places. They bring out your creativity and spark innovation.
There are some intangible thoughts that tap deep into the conscience anchoring beliefs that shape values and reveal who a person really is. Each thought transformed into a decision is a value honored or a value betrayed. If you make value-based choices your garden is alight with humming birds and butterflies. When your values do not align, you toil in the shadows of the sun.
Our values shape our goals but not always the process. High achievers often exhaust themselves scaling the garden wall and gaze around in awed confusion when the gate swings open and deposits them in the fertilizer. It slowly dawns that they have reached their goal but it was not what they hoped.
Invested only in the goal, an individual may find another wall, repeat the process or set new goals. The disconnect is that many go-getters do not discriminate among the countless projects to find those that are worthwhile and meaningful. They pluck wildflowers and clovers to make a flower arrangement for the table while the orchids wilt.
It is not necessary to change your expectations when you can change your approach. Suppose you focused on the process itself? Rather than chasing a goal like a carrot on a stick, seek meaning in activities and accomplishments that are always there for you to experience and enjoy. Free yourself to live in the present, rebuffing deferred gratification.
The very best moments are, more often than not, the ordinary moments. Spending time with family and friends, reading a good book, playing with your grandchildren, pursuing a hobby or listening to music are some that come to mind. You can stop doing these whenever you want but they will always be waiting to fill in the empty spaces.
When you value most those things you cannot lose you’ll find the courage to risk planting new gardens despite nature’s challenges. Your integrity, compassion, faith, your love for others, your desire to encourage change for the better are the powers to survive whatever difficulties you may face.
If I could I would send you the gifts of Wisdom and Knowledge to plant in your garden with the wish that they would grow like Jack’s beanstalk, lifting you to wondrous places and magical worlds.
Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know all there is to know. ~ Winnie the Pooh