We have all heard a cliché a time or two, and depending on what we’re going through when we hear it, we either receive it, refuse it, or just flat out ignore it all together. I can admit that more often than not, I fall in the latter two categories. I refuse it or ignore it, because sometimes I really just don’t want to hear it in that moment, but I’ll get it in hindsight. Let’s face it, in the midst of the experience, it’s sometimes hard to grasp clichéd sentiments without being cynical or something worse, like being despondent and rude (I stand accused & I confess my guilt🤷🏽♀️).
Things happen in life and we have to navigate it the best way we can, but sometimes the right clichés feel so wrong depending on what we’re going through. When someone dies, “everything happens for a reason”; when you go through a break up with someone, “there are other fish in the sea” or “he wasn’t good enough for you anyway”… wait that one is usually true lol! But seriously, let’s face it, everything just isn’t palatable when your taste buds have been burned, literally and figuratively. I mean, have you ever tried to taste something after after you’ve burned your tongue or scorched the roof of your mouth…no bueno!
We are in “unprecedented times” right now, (and I know we all hear that phrase 50 times a day) but it has given me some time to address SOME things and some time overthink OTHER things. Don’t judge me, because I know I’m not alone😉. While I was becoming one with nature and D.I.Y. projects, my attention was drawn to a tree in the front of my house. That tree has been an issue for the past couple of years, but I figured it would magically act right. Well, I just got around to addressing it while I was home looking at it allll day for a couple of months. Why was I fixated on the tree? Well, during the fall and winter, I was able to ignore it because it was supposed to be barren; but during this spring and summer, I couldn’t NOT see it any longer because it failed to bear the fruit of the leaves that should have been there. You see, one half of the tree was dead and the other half was alive.
You really don’t have to imagine it if you’ve never seen it happen because I included a picture of it…TADA!!! This image reminded me of the many times I’ve been told “to bloom where I’m planted”. Now do not get me wrong, there’s definitely truth to that, because we have to make the best of situations we’re in, even if we do not want to be there. We have to get the experiences and learn the lessons and we can only change that which is in our control, right! All of this is true, so I get it! I really get it! But here’s the part that gets us into trouble. You ready for this? Some of us have allowed our behinds to take root in places we should have only been passing through or in places we were never told to plant our tales in the first place. When you know that you know what you know, and you’re tuned in to a higher power that knows all; you know when you need to move because He tells you. But what do we do? We dig in and make the choice to remain in place out of comfort, safety, or loyalty…or because it looks aesthetically acceptable. We know the course and alter our own paths without listening, only to wind up planted in diseased soil. I’ll confess guilt for all of us, and I care about you enough to be ‘oh so cliché’ in telling you that, “all ground ain’t fertile ground”. Just today, a great friend said to me that a tropical plant won’t fair well in Antartica! Let that sink in for a sec. 🤔
You may have planted yourself in an environment that will not stimulate your growth (nor encourage it), or you may have grown as much as you can where you are, and so now you might need to dig up those roots and “repot” yourself. Lol! Y’all like what I did right there! See the quarantine had me thinking I could plant flowers and stuff. That didn’t work too well though. I kept one plant alive and killed a bunch, but one of the things I learned is that sometimes they need to be repotted to have room to grow. I can’t give you garden tips to help plants grow, but I can give you life parallels to help each of us grow.
KEEP GROWING!!!!
Song Reference:
Aretha Franklin: A Rose is Still A Rose https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtMUQbnT_Lo
Life Is But A Song 