Growing in the Right Direction

Our next door neighbor has this black iron fence around the front of their property. I walk past it everyday and admire the flowers they seasonally grow on the inside.

Their small yellow Rose bush has never had more than a couple of blooms on it at any given time. They may be few…but they are always exquisite.  One day back in the late Fall, I walked by to see how this Rose had ventured outside the fence.  It had completely shifted direction, so now instead of continuing to grow up alongside the others…it was growing out and through the fence.

I couldn’t help but admire her rebel spirit, to see her as the one with the desire to break free from the norm…the one willing to take a risk and step outside the box (or in this case, the fence).

Perhaps she had simply outgrown the confinements of what was holding her in.  There was a big world out there on the other side, one she seemed curious to explore.

During the time I spent photographing this beautiful flower (from about 8 different angles), I started thinking about all the various ways in which we grow throughout the course of our lifetime.

I found myself questioning…”Is there any right or wrong direction in which to grow”???

Our life journey consists of many varied paths. Have you ever felt as though you’d taken a wrong turn, or made a string of questionable decisions? I think its safe to say we all have, and I believe it to be one of our many common denominators that link us as human beings. I’m pretty sure there isn’t a person amongst us who hasn’t made their share of mistakes, or felt the sharp pang of regret over something said or done.

But at the end of the day, it’s often these very experiences that steer our course, then move us towards some of our most meaningful stages of growth.

If you think about it, our life can be a bit like a Rose bush, as even when in full bloom…we still must be watered, weeded and wary of the odd, sharp thorn.

So I quickly concluded that every direction we grow is the right one. Because whether we feel we are in a stage of great achievement, or are feeling stuck and in a mundane state of limbo…there’s never a point when we aren’t unfolding in some small or interesting way.

I think its important to remind ourselves how all of it matters, all of it is valid…and all of it relevant to who we are (and who we have yet to become).

Later that day while looking at this picture, I tried to decide which of the Roses best reflected my own personality. Was I the one content in growing inside the fence, together with all the others? Or was I more like the adventurous one, independent and curious to explore what was happening on the outside?

I determined that depending upon the day, I may very well be a little blend of them both…perhaps we all are.

Either way, I can’t help but think that whichever direction we are growing…there’s a place for all of us to see beyond the confines of the fence.

For today friends…this is The World As Eye See It