Bloom Where You Are Planted!

My little stick Angel Trumpet "tree" will just NOT give up, however, it has always looked frail. Over a year ago I rooted it from a neighbor's yard. Tiny green leaves would sprout and then I would be negligent about watering (and especially in South Texas...It's a wise idea to water things!). When Ike blew into town in mid-September, hurricane winds whipped this little tree with a vengeance. I thought it was a goner, for sure! A few weeks after Ike I noticed it had flower buds popping out!

My first thought after seeing those miracle blooms were......if THAT little tree can produce such beautiful flowers after all the "hardships" it's gone through; then I have NO excuse for not "blooming where I am planted", right? Life often isn't kind, or fair, or exactly what we planned but I believe we (and God) are in charge of our destiny, and it's up to us what we make of it. I found the below on Daily OM and couldn't have said it more eloquently....

"Having a vision for our future that differs from our current circumstances can be inspiring and exciting, but it can also keep us from fully committing to our present placement. We may become aware that this is happening when we notice our thoughts about the future distracting us from our participation in the moment. We may find upon searching our hearts that we are waiting for some future time or situation in order to self-actualize. This would be like a flower planted in North Dakota putting off blooming because it would prefer to do so in Illinois.

There are no guarantees in this life, so when we hold back we do so at the risk of never fully blossoming. This present moment always offers us the ground in which we can take root and open our hearts now. What this means is that we live fully, wherever we are, not hesitating because conditions are not perfect, or we might end up moving, or we haven’t found our life partner. This can be scary, because we might feel that we are giving up our cherished dreams if we do not agree to wait for them. But this notion that we have to hold back our life force now in order to find happiness later doesn’t really make sense. What might really be happening is that we are afraid to embrace this moment, and ourselves, just exactly as we are right now.”

That may be Pollyanna-ish, but that's how I roll and how I get by! Below is another Angel Trumpet tree in my yard. THIS is how they are supposed to look...but I'm proud of my little Charlie Brown Angel Trumpet and I have a feeling one of these days it will be just as big as the one below.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING YA'LL....AND DON'T FORGET TO BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED!