GROWTH
Today, a memory of my fourteen year old self swept over me. After an early (6 am to be exact), basketball practice, full day of school, practice again after school, home to eat a snack, do my chores, complete my homework and, then, lay down on my Mom’s bed with the lights dim and television on for some much needed rest before dinner. It was a beautiful moment I was transported back to with the help of memory. I’d put in a good day of life and was home to relax into it and revive all my energy for the next day.
I was a little beanpole for years and years until I turned fourteen. And, at that age, I’d grown so much physically that I would literally have pain in my knees, hips and back from such a spurt. Rest was vital, and I can assure you that I got plenty of it.
Today, I looked at a beautiful amaryllis I’d planted in the month of December. It worked its way up from a bulb to a stalk to a bud to the most beautiful flower you’ve ever seen. I leaned into it and thought, “What does it need? Water? No water? More sun? Less sun?” And, from my inner voice, I heard, “Just let it be. It’s fine as is. It requires nothing.” That very thought is what took me to the memory of my physical growth spurt in 1990. Once I was done meeting all that was required of me in that day, whether mandatory or elective, I just needed to “be.”
Though I’m not experiencing a growth spurt physically, I’m almost always experiencing one spiritually. Certain things in life force us to toe up with realities about ourselves and others that aren’t always so rosy. We strive to be better. We do this. We do that. When, in truth, we just need to be. In the stillness, we find that everything is fine and we need or want for nothing.
So, today, tomorrow or whenever you feel the aches and pains of your own personal growth, remember the importance of “being” where you are. Sit there for a while. Take it in. Know that you’re being equipped for the next magnificent thing. Just bloom, yes, bloom where you are planted, my friend.
Stay Divine,
JL PARISH
