Surely sometime in your life you have heard the phrase "April showers bring May flowers". I have heard it more times that I can count and have said it as well. Those April showers are so important for many plants in order for them to grow and be healthy and productive. I love to see a plant that is super healthy start to produce flowers. Those flowers are usually very good quality. The healthy plant is a more vigorous producer than a plant that has been damaged by not enough water or any kind of stress. Although I would prefer the healthiest plant possible, I do have some plants that I just love that sometimes don't do the best for one reason or another but I just can't get rid of them because I still enjoy the flowers they produce. Take for example, the Zinnia. Who doesn't love the beauty of the summer Zinnia? I'm sure there are a few but the Zinnia is a much loved favorite. Once it starts it's seasonal blooming, it has such a beautiful bloom that I just love so much. But as the season goes on the Japanese beetles swarm it and eat the leaves and then by mid to late summer powdery mildew has reared it's ugly head and there is no turning back. I still cut on my Zinnias even after the disease comes but week by week the production slows and the quality of the flowers suffer. But I will never stop growing these beauties.
So, let's take a different turn here. Did you ever think of "April showers bring May flowers" as a metaphor for life. Maybe April showers could be the death of a loved one, a really hard issue or problem at work, or maybe you experience upheaval and your life gets rearranged. None of those "April showers" sound very pleasant. But I believe in the midst of those challenges some of our greatest victories and life defining moments can be made by a shift of our perspective. So we will use me as an example. I was in a career for 25 years that was what I considered my life's work. I loved the people I worked with and the people that I got to meet and the difference that I felt I was making for others-helping people is core to my being. So here comes Covid-a life changing moment for most of us. Various things happened and I rethought were I was at in my career-"my April showers". Now make no mistake to think this was an easy choice of change-I challenged every thought that I had ever had about my career. I struggled with my self worth because I used my job to fill my life's purpose. It was probably the most difficult time I've ever experienced in my life and friends, I'm no stranger to difficulty. If this unfathomable time had never come I would not be where I am right now. I have experienced the most insurmountable joy of my life by being able to grow and share the beautiful flowers that grow here on our little farm. I realize that through these little living miracles, they provide joy and hope in the best and worst of times. Today I delivered an arrangement and the receiver said "Someone sent me flowers? I think I'm going to cry!". Well I wear my feelings on my sleeve so I said enjoy and hopped in my SUV so she couldn't see me tear up. What a blessing I got from that- my "May flowers". Sometimes it really can be that simple. We are the ones trying to complicate life. I see now I can still make a difference in others by sharing the miracle of flowers. Yes, flowers are a miracle-a simple understated miracle and they help us to celebrate the miracle and joy of life.
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