I have a large, beautiful plant in my house. It would be perfect for someone, but it is not perfect for me. It's just too big.
I've moved it from room to room, from corner to corner, but it just doesn't quite fit anywhere.
I can't throw it out, can't purposely kill it, that just wouldn't feel right. So, about a year ago, I started to ignore it. I wouldn't water it, wouldn't give it the sunlight it needed, I just pretended that it didn't exist.
My hope was that it would die a quick, painless death and I could get rid of it with a clear conscious.
But that didn't happen. That doggone plant thrived!
I looked at it a few days ago and the thing is the most beautiful shade of green that I've ever seen!
It has new growth... it's soil is moist... I have no idea how this happened. It's almost as if my plant is a grown-up church girl disguised as a house plant, and she pulled and paraphrased the Scripture from Job and said to herself "Yeah thou she try to slay me, I will put my trust in God." I'm serious, this is so strange. I have no idea how that plant has survived.
But, you know me, I like to find the meaning in everything, no matter how seemingly mundane, and I think about how this plant represents us at one point or another in our lives.
Come with me into the time machine...
Let's go back to a time when a person... a place... or a thing made you feel devalued. Like you didn't matter. Like life would be better if you weren't around.
Remember how that felt? Rejected? With self-esteem lower than low? Worthless? Cheap?
What did you do?
Maybe you ran and hid, hoping that when you reappeared, feelings would have changed.
Maybe you went through the motions of trying to change yourself, trying to make yourself "more worthy" of the attention you craved.
Maybe you cried or became angry.
At one point or another, we've all probably done several of these things, but now I consider what my plant did when I decided that there was no room for it in my world.
The plant thrived, in spite of it all.
It somehow watered itself... it basked in the glow of it's own sunlight... it fed it's own soul.
That's what we have to do, too.
We have to find ways to keep ourselves encouraged, even when that seems contrary to the voices we're hearing around us.
This is more important now than ever, now that many of us are confined to our homes and unable to do the things that used to bring us joy. The shopping trips are far less frequent, the brunch dates with family friends are nonexistent, those entertaining evenings at concerts and plays are not happening right now.
So what tools are you using now to keep yourself encouraged?
I write. I listen to music. Or talk with family and friends. I find things to laugh about. And I pray.
Be sure you have your arsenal of tools you can use to nourish the soil of your soul. We can't afford to dry up during this season, there is far too much for us to do. The world needs us now.
So, in the midst of this global pandemic, crazy news stories, and crazier politics... don't forget to Water Yourself.
I've moved it from room to room, from corner to corner, but it just doesn't quite fit anywhere.
I can't throw it out, can't purposely kill it, that just wouldn't feel right. So, about a year ago, I started to ignore it. I wouldn't water it, wouldn't give it the sunlight it needed, I just pretended that it didn't exist.
My hope was that it would die a quick, painless death and I could get rid of it with a clear conscious.
But that didn't happen. That doggone plant thrived!
I looked at it a few days ago and the thing is the most beautiful shade of green that I've ever seen!
It has new growth... it's soil is moist... I have no idea how this happened. It's almost as if my plant is a grown-up church girl disguised as a house plant, and she pulled and paraphrased the Scripture from Job and said to herself "Yeah thou she try to slay me, I will put my trust in God." I'm serious, this is so strange. I have no idea how that plant has survived.
But, you know me, I like to find the meaning in everything, no matter how seemingly mundane, and I think about how this plant represents us at one point or another in our lives.
Come with me into the time machine...
Let's go back to a time when a person... a place... or a thing made you feel devalued. Like you didn't matter. Like life would be better if you weren't around.
Remember how that felt? Rejected? With self-esteem lower than low? Worthless? Cheap?
What did you do?
Maybe you ran and hid, hoping that when you reappeared, feelings would have changed.
Maybe you went through the motions of trying to change yourself, trying to make yourself "more worthy" of the attention you craved.
Maybe you cried or became angry.
At one point or another, we've all probably done several of these things, but now I consider what my plant did when I decided that there was no room for it in my world.
The plant thrived, in spite of it all.
It somehow watered itself... it basked in the glow of it's own sunlight... it fed it's own soul.
That's what we have to do, too.
We have to find ways to keep ourselves encouraged, even when that seems contrary to the voices we're hearing around us.
This is more important now than ever, now that many of us are confined to our homes and unable to do the things that used to bring us joy. The shopping trips are far less frequent, the brunch dates with family friends are nonexistent, those entertaining evenings at concerts and plays are not happening right now.
So what tools are you using now to keep yourself encouraged?
I write. I listen to music. Or talk with family and friends. I find things to laugh about. And I pray.
Be sure you have your arsenal of tools you can use to nourish the soil of your soul. We can't afford to dry up during this season, there is far too much for us to do. The world needs us now.
So, in the midst of this global pandemic, crazy news stories, and crazier politics... don't forget to Water Yourself.
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