Spending time with plants over the last couple of months has reminded me over and over again of just how optimistic life can be. I was working in a friend's garden recently, pulling up unwanted plants (a.k.a. weeding, but I dislike that word and haven't found one to replace it with- it is so presumptive!) and I marveled at the apple tree putting down roots in a path of gravel, making use of what little nutrients she could find mixed in with the gravel. Dozen of
lilies had managed to spread into the gravel as well. Think of the plants popping up around rocks or peeping through a crack in the path, growing in a teaspoon of dirt, collected near a patch of moss...When you pull up one plant, another is bound to take its place.
Today I stopped to check out a gathering of ants, wondering what had drawn them into the patio and was amazed, as I always am, at how optimistic ants are! They were gathering together to pull a piece of dry cat food down into a crack in the concrete. The cat food was considerably larger than the crack and I still had no doubt that they would eventually dismantle it and haul it, every last piece, down into their colony. Perhaps they would start jumping up and down on the cat food, forcing it down into the crack. Or- they will get through what they can and move on to the next morsel...
One of my favorite
Daily Grooves came through today and exemplifies this optimism very well-
:: No Regrets ::
As you progress and become a wiser parent, you may at
times feel regret that you didn't "know better" when
your children were younger. You may even feel guilty
for "damaging" them. If so, let Mother Nature inspire
you to a more hopeful perspective.
Have you ever explored a wild forest and appreciated
the awesome way in which Life springs forth from the
chaos? Then you know Mother Nature never regrets. She
learns as she goes and always makes the best of things
as they are. She never looks back.
When a tree takes root in the shadows, Mother Nature
doesn't regret giving it a "sub-optimum" start in
life. She trusts it will bend toward the Light and
find a way to thrive. And in doing so, the tree
creates its own unique beauty.
She knows that no storm, flood, or fire can stop the
endless Flow of Life through her children.
http://dailygroove.net/no-regrets
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Copyright (c) 2009 by Scott Noelle