Apple blossoms (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bloom Where You Are Planted:
Now Is The Time

The time to blossom is now, not sometime in the future when you believe the stars will be aligned for you.

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. This constitutes a tendency to hold back from fully loving ourselves, as we are, where we are.

We have a habit of presenting life with a set of conditions—ifs and whens that must be fulfilled before we will say yes to the gift of our lives. Now is the time for each of us to bloom where we are planted, overriding our tendency to hold back. Now is the time to say yes, to be brave and commit fully to ourselves, because until we do no one else will. Now is the time to be vulnerable, unfolding delicately yet fully into the space in which we find ourselves. ~ Madyson Taylor, Daily Om

This post is easy. The Daily Om article states it all in a neat little package. Tomorrow, when the time is right, and I can’t right now because ___________ (fill in the blank), are all excuses that we tell ourselves to avoid living our best lives, in the present moment. Although we know the truth, we kid ourselves into believing that this life is infinite. We place all of our dreams, hopes and desires, in a beautiful, embossed box, where they will be safe — until tomorrow. On a daily basis, we save the “good” china and silverware for special occasions, and we relegate that “little black dress” and sexy lingerie to the back of our closets and drawers, waiting for the “right” moment. Our hearts are swollen with all the words and sentiments that we wish to convey to our loved ones, at the “right” time. Well, I was recently reminded by the death of a high school classmate, that tomorrow may never come, and the “right” time is at this very moment.

There is no “one-size-fits-all” reason to explain our propensity for procrastination. It could arise from a variety of emotions and beliefs, but in reality, none of that matters. It’s all about letting go of all that is keeping us from our hopes and dreams. By doing so, we free ourselves from an uncertain future and consciously embrace the way that we really choose to live our lives.

As I write this, it reminds me of a poem that I read about letting go. (It touched me so much that I added it to my website as one of my favorite poems.) In addition to addressing the issue of letting go, it recounts many of the reasons we use to justify clinging to the status-quo. Although the poem refers to the female gender, it applies to every man and woman who is waiting for the elusive “right” moment to present itself before realizing their dreams. Read it, heed it, and go ahead — allow your life to blossom, beyond your wildest dreams, because the “right” moment is now.

She Let Go

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.
She let go of the fear.
She let go of the judgments.
She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.
She let go of the committee of indecision within her.
She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.
Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.
She didn’t ask anyone for advice.
She didn’t read a book on how to let go.
She didn’t search the scriptures.
She just let go.
She let go of all of the memories that held her back.
She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.
She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.
She didn’t promise to let go.
She didn’t journal about it.
She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.
She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.
She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.
She just let go.
She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.
She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.
She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.
She didn’t call the prayer line.
She didn’t utter one word.
She just let go.
No one was around when it happened.
There was no applause or congratulations.
No one thanked her or praised her.
No one noticed a thing.
Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.
There was no effort.
There was no struggle.
It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.
It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, she let it all be.
A small smile came over her face.
A light breeze blew through her. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore.
~ Rev. Safire Rose