Being & Becoming: Appreciating Divine Timing

I’ve been waiting for one of my flower gardens to pop with all the wonderful flowers I knew were coming this season. There’s Echinacea and Foxglove leaves sprouting all over where they reseeded themselves, and my excitement has grown all summer to see the beautiful colors when they arrived.

Alas, we had a late freeze and these beauties didn’t even start sprouting their greenery until late in the season, and now it’s mid-August and they’re still just growing leaves. I found myself disappointed that there weren’t flowers and I kept telling them, “C’mon, flower before it gets too cold.”

Then I realized, I’ve been so focused on their flowers and what I want them to become, that I haven’t really been fully appreciating their greenery and where they are right now. I have been rushing them, asking them to have MY timing instead of their own timing.

There are some annuals blooming around my green leaf friends

Perhaps they need this summer to integrate and restore. Perhaps this is not the summer for their flowers, but maybe next year they’ll flower even more, or not. Either way, they know exactly what they need and they are expressing that.

I realized this is so often what we do to ourselves, or project onto others. We get so focused on the outcome that we forget to appreciate the journey, to appreciate our greenery instead of simply trying to blossom all the time. We need time to just do the little daily things and not make the big, colorful strides. We need time to restore and integrate, rest and embody.

If we just keep wanting to be flowering all the time, what are we trying to prove? Why do we need to become something? When do we simply get to just BE, without the pressure of BECOMING.

The leaves of our life (yes I’m milking this metaphor) are vital to the continued growth on our journey. It can’t all be mountain top highs and breakthroughs, and it can’t all be flowers. We need to allow and trust our own timing. You might feel like a Turtle compared to others, but someone might think you’re a Rabbit compared to them.

Lately I’ve been enjoying & taking time to appreciate these lush green leaves that are growing and soaking up what they need from the Sun and the Earth, reminding me to do the same.

Not to mention, the plant kingdom is absolutely magical. If I only look for the flowers and fruits, I’m missing so much that the plant teachers have to offer! The depth is in the fullness of the plant, not simply what the plant produces.

Be easy on yourself. Trust your timing. There’s no rush. There’s no end to get to. You will flower in your way, in your own time, however you choose and it is perfect. You are divine.