The broken pots told the story of why the red leaves and dirt littered the floor in front of me. The local garden center had a large display of Christmas poinsettias and a couple of these vibrant plants apparently had fallen off the table, their plastic pots breaking open as they hit the concrete floor below.
Seeing the plants out of their pots showed a cross section their life story. The dirt, the roots, the stems, and the leaves. The leaves always get the glory, but it all started in the dirt.
Before a flower is celebrated for it’s beauty, the seed begins the journey buried in darkness, covered, watered, and left on its own to find its way instinctively upward and towards an unseen light. From a human perspective, such a journey would be daunting and quite traumatic. But to a flower, it’s simply the process of growing.
As humans, dirt is often a part of our growth process. Dirt, in the form of disappointments, pain, loss, abandonment, and fears, can bury us in our own darkness, leaving us alone seeking our own uncharted path upwards and towards an unseen light.
While a plant instinctively will find its way through the dirt, we humans need to be far more intentional to do so. And far more resilient. Emotional dirt is quite heavy, with the viscosity of mud making it often impossible to gain your footing. It’s not something you simply grow through in a linear fashion. It’s something I usually have to grow through several times.
Sometimes I get so consumed by the darkness I forget that the light even exists. But it’s only when I choose to focus on the light am I able to regain my emotional footing to push myself a little bit forward, and then a little bit more.
I’ve grown through most of the dirt I’ve encountered in my life. Most, but not all. I don’t think life ever stops throwing dirt on you. It’s part of the human growth process. I can get caught up in the unfairness of it all, and at times I have. I can complain about the heaviness of it all, and at times I have. I don’t minimize the pain inherent with the process, nor should anyone. But life always lets you decide where you’re willing to go from here, no matter how much dirt is covering you.
Remember to focus upon the light.
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
Peter Mis LivingHalfFull.com 