I've been blessed with many wonderful teachers that have had an enormous impact on my life, starting with those from my elementary and high school days (thank you, Mr. Zimmler and Mrs. Rothoultz), to all-time greats like Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg, and others. By far, however, my greatest teacher, the one that has had the biggest impact on my life, has been the one, the only, Mother Nature herself.
It wasn't until I took up gardening all those years ago that I learned some of my most important lessons. I learned that there is no competition in nature. One flower doesn't try to out-do another. A red rose isn't any more valuable than a pink or yellow one. A pine tree doesn't gloat over the fact that it keeps its greenery over the winter while other trees go bare, nor do the trees that put on such a magnificent show in the autumn feel superior to the pines and evergreens (who, by the way, get their moments of glory at Christmas). Everybody just "is."
I learned that a weed is just a plant growing somewhere you don't want it to grow. It doesn't set out to ruin your perfectly planted garden. Out in the wild it would just be considered another plant. It isn't purposely aggressive, nor is it something to be treated as a lesser living thing. Anyone with knowledge of natural medicines and cooking can tell you about all the benefits of dandelions, the enemy of gardeners and lawn enthusiasts. Just because you're different, doesn't mean you should be treated badly.
I learned that if you prepare the soil, plant the seed, water and nurture it, and make sure it gets enough light, you can grow just about anything (well, I've never been successful at growing roses, but that's for another blog post). It's the same thing with life: lay the foundation, plant the seed, nurture it, and you can accomplish anything.
I learned that nothing is forever. Plants die. Trees come down in storms or from disease. We are born, we live, hopefully we flourish, and then we move on to our next adventure. Sounds a bit depressing? It doesn't have to be. For every plant that dies, another flowers. For every tree that comes down, another is planted. For every life that is lived, another is born. "To everything there is a season ..."
So what does it all mean? That I don't have to compete with anyone. That I don't have to "achieve" greatness, I just have to be me, the best me I can be. No one is any worse or better than me. We are all equal and we all have a right to be here and to live our best lives. We all get to bask in the sunlight, refresh ourselves in the rain, hibernate in the winter, and thrive in the spring. And every morning, if we are truly blessed, we get to say: Today, I begin again.
And so it is.
