‘Bloom where you are planted’

Before I clearly get into the topic, I am going to try inspiring you by telling you a story, A fairy tale I suppose - The story of the big Oak and the crawling Oak. So, the big oak and the crawling oak are two trees, and they are brothers (assume for the sake of metaphor), So the two trees are planted on opposite sides of a creek. The big oak was satisfied with where he was placed, he bloomed where he was planted, but the crawling oak was dissatisfied, he was not happy with where he was placed, he did not bloom where he was planted. He in fact wanted to be on the other side of the creek with his brother because he believed that that was where it was going to make him grow big and tall. So, every day the crawling oak tried with all his might to move himself to the other side of the creek, and every day he became more and more bent until one day he found himself to be so crooked that he could never grow to be as tall as his brother. Sad, isn’t it?

I hope you get the story, do you? So, what does it mean to BLOOM where we are planted?

Blooming where we are planted means to grow and flourish despite the circumstances, and that does not mean to survive, it means to Thrive and to Blossom.

I can understand how this can be hard for some but it's not impossible. How do you think can we BLOOM where we are planted? The general answer is that we can only buck up and we keep moving forward but there are times when holding our heads high and doing what needs to do can seem so incredibly hard, it can seem so overwhelming, but I think we can break it down into a simple 4-step process. Now the 1^st step might be difficult for some of us,

YOU HAVE TO STOP COMPLAINING, like the crawling Oak, the big oak didn’t grow big and tall by fussing over minor inconveniences of potential weather or whatever scenarios there possibly could be. Currently, where we can control almost everything with computers in our pockets that allows us the world in our fingertips, we can do anything we want. We can plan a day, we can plan a week, or we can decide that we want exactly 7 ½ pieces of pineapple on our pizza, we are just super incredible in how much information we can process with how much ever efficiency, but the problem comes from deciding that we’re going to rely on that instant gratification and when we rely on it we fool ourselves into believing that we can control everything around us and it almost sounds amusing isn’t it? how frustrated we become when we forget that that’s not possible, so complaining makes us Bitter, do we get it? and we can’t control the world around us, can we? The world keeps spinning whether we want to or not, you are still going to cut off in traffic except during corona the situation ☹, it’s still going to rain when you step outside during the monsoon, people are still going to lose their jobs, all of this is not because the world is out there to get you, but because believe it or not the world doesn’t care, so when we complain, we are automatically are making the situation we have no control over – which becomes NEGATIVE – and so we have stop believing that we can control everything.

The second step should be fairly natural.

We must look for the cracks in the concrete. Now plants, flowers, and trees are resilient and miraculous, they are almost heroic because they’ll find the smallest ray of sunshine, the smallest drop of rain, and they’ll use it to grow, even through concrete.

Looking for the cracks means – FINDING the GOOD in every situation and it should come naturally, after the first step because once we stop believing that growth is pointless, we can then begin to find the silver lining, and so for us, when we grow and look for the cracks in the concrete, it can seem hard sometimes because there are those situations that seem so dark but when we look for the crack it is possible to find the good, and the good doesn’t come to us in the faces, it is not always obvious, because not all situations are bad, some situations are simply unideal on which we just have to simply accept them, but that alone is a mindset. And there are those situations such as joblessness and addiction, and in those we do really have to find the good, and that good may not come from the situation itself, it’s a multi-step process, like you lose your job you look for another, you teach yourself to be persistent, and creative, and resilient, then you struggle with addiction, you strive to overcome it, you teach yourself to be disciplined, you teach yourself to be humble, and ask for help, and strive for better, and in that way you find the good.

The third step goes from looking outward into the world around you and looking inward and saying – what can I learn from this, the plant life is equivalent to this physically growing through the cracks, we’ve stopped believing that growth is pointless and we find the light in the dark places, and now we are called to physically grow, its in this step that blooming where you are planted stops becoming a motto, and it becomes a mindset and a way of life, it's not a one-time thing though, you can’t just ask yourself once - how can I learn from this, and expect yourself to flourish.

Asking yourself to grow from adversity, is a habit that is built over time, it takes conscious and continual effort.

The fourth step – Again turn yourself outwards.

You have to be a blessing to others, now being a blessing to others look like taking previous steps and embodying them, it looks like internalizing them and living them out, so in being a blessing to others what we are called to do is to use what we have learned and use it to help others bloom where they are planted.

During a drought, a taller tree can shade a smaller tree and keep it out of the harsh sun and during a flood the roots of a stronger tree can keep the soil from washing away from underneath the weaker one and in this way it gives the smaller tree an opportunity to grow and continue to bloom where it is planted. And believe it or not that benefits both trees. And in the same way, being a blessing to ourselves brings us joy and being a blessing to somebody else is even better, so we contribute positively to their life, which will, in turn, return to us.

With this let me get you on a little secret – We get ‘exactly’ one shot at this life. If you have not taken steps to bloom where you are planted, if you are not already blooming, where you are planted, I hope that through this blog I can be the outside force that may help you to bloom no matter what the season is.