Photo contributed by Marlena Groomer)

11/17/14

“Bloom where you are planted.”

So many bemoan the circumstances of where they were born, what they were not born with, and even to whom they were born to, conveniently falling back on that rationale for the things that didn’t happen to or for them, as opposed to acknowledging the shortcomings of their own efforts for what was not achieved.

I mean when seeds, flowers, and trees are planted, if properly nourished, they tend to grow and not just in the most favorable conditions.  Many have adapted to their surroundings and have blossomed in remote and barren environments.  Somehow without apparent reasoning and defying scientific logic, they just do!

Same with humans, whether individually or in groups – people just adapt and then overcome their circumstance, defying reason by laboring beyond others’ expectations.  Go figure, or maybe settle for not trying to envision doing something similar with more or even less!  I just can’t think that way because I can still imagine something more for me each day!  As for others, I’m not sure how much they are able to do that and sadly not my concern unless they are close to me (family, friends, and even random acquaintances) and I sense that they are willing to, and can, alter their approach.

At any age and at any time, we have to approach each day creatively.  We get so consumed in where we’re at and what’s not there that we forget about what we’ve done and where we’ll be.  It’s that kind of thinking that keeps psychiatry booming and many trapped behind depression, anxiety, and despair, and that’s such an emotionally disabling and lonely platform to launch from.  Trust me, I’ve been there!

I’m not a therapist and certainly lack the qualifications to treat anyone other than me.  However maybe my approach using the quote set forth above might be of use to anyone struggling with the “perception” of their current circumstances and distance from their objectives.

I get frustrated when I start to add up the things that haven’t happened or not happening because it leads to feelings of failure which overshadows recognition of growth of any kind.  Like plants and trees, growth at first is slow and barely perceptible unless viewed through time-lapse photography and in similar ways, so seems the pace of my life when I attempt a painstaking and impatient assessment of it.  I now understand that although I may not see the product of all my efforts as soon as I’d prefer, that does not mean that there hasn’t been development.

So I keep nurturing what has been planted and treat each day as the start of another phase in the maturation of what has yet to be visualized.  In the interim, I plan the beginning of that which I can see with more immediate and tangible results.

Simply, I end my nights with a plan to achieve something I want (not need) the next day.  Slight or majestic, it gives me something to look forward to when I awake.  When I accomplish it, or just maybe even get close enough to it, I feel a satisfaction in the fact that I did more than moving on to the following day.  I feel that I have forged a covenant with “life” that day, made an effort at actually “living”, and engaged in the art of feeling “alive”.  It may sound silly and trite but like a plant or tree as I blossom upwards for myself, that growth also extends outward to that, and those, surrounding me.  In return I often receive more than I expected and if I don’t, that’s ok too.

So in the end, we will be well-served to believe that with the start of each day, “somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known,” and with modest hope, simple planning, humble expectations, and legitimate efforts, something usually does if, measured and appreciated appropriately!