Bloom Where You Are Planted

"Feeling sorry for yourself, and your gift condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could perhaps have."

Dale Carnegie
1888-1955, Author and Speaker

How many times in your life have you thrown a "pity party" for yourself? You don't like where you are in life and you collate your life with others colse to you... As a result, you feel sorry for yourself. Dale Carnegie states that feeling sorry for yourself is the worst habit you could perhaps have, because it is so terribly unattractive and it perpetuates "ugly". Agree??

It is so incredibly easy to bitch and moan about where your life is... if you are permanently seeing and focusing on the negatives. We all have negatives in our life. Are you someone who thinks and speaks all the time about only the negatives in your life? When you are with your friends, do you find yourself talking poorly about your life? Do you call people only to complain? You may be shaking your head and thinking, "No, I don't". But pay attentiveness to your words and thoughts. You may be surprised and comprehend you need to do a little adjusting.

So, your life isn't perfect. Well I have news for you: Nobody has a perfect life! I've written before how dangerous it is to collate your life to others. In order to Bloom, you need to take your focus off your perception of others and put it on yourself. Start to be grateful for the parts of your life that you de facto Love. (Yes, you have them!) If you focus on all the "great" in your life, while visualizing your dreams and goals... The "great" will grow! You will attract more greatness into your life! You will have more things and situations and people to appreciate. It is the same snowball result that works with the negative, icky things you focus on... So let's shift your focus to the determined and Bloom!

My very special group of moms has a theme we try to live by... "Bloom Where You Are Planted!" We have de facto tried daily to convention this theme, because sometimes life can catch us off guard and can take us by surprise. This is such a suited theme, because a lot of people don't like where they are in life. The situation they find themselves in is not what they had dreamed. Sometimes we get knocked off track and we go down a dissimilar path than anticipated. Sometimes we are hit hard with challenges: with our kids, our finances, our marriage, our health, etc. Wherever you are, Right Now... Bloom! You can have dreams and goals and purpose for the future... But to be fully gift and Bloom wherever you are is so empowering.

What exactly do I mean by encouraging you to Bloom? Well, Webster defines it perfectly:

Bloom (Verb) -(1): to mature into achievement of one's potential, (2): to flourish in immature beauty, freshness, or excellence.

A huge part of "Blooming where you are planted" is having gratitude for all the people, things, and situations in your life. If you are permanently regretting the past, worrying about the future, and not living and appreciating the present... Then you are not allowing yourself to Bloom. Yes, you may have had a rocky, dysfunctional past... But we all have, to one degree or another. Remember, your past does not define you; rather it has made you into the someone you are today. Your past has allowed you to meet determined people, to learn determined lessons, and to help you grow. If you are not allowing yourself to Bloom because you are too busy living in the past or time to come that is a tragedy! Be gift and Bloom!

Flowers can bloom and thrive in a range of circumstances-likewise, our lives are full of challenges and triumphs, easy times and hard ones, but we too can thrive even in difficult conditions. Life is what you make of it! As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." How very true is that!? Make the most of your life experiences and enjoy the journey!

Challenge - Wherever we are Right Now in life, let's appreciate where we've been, where we are, and where we are going. Let's not have any more "pity parties" for ourselves. Let's appreciate all the people and situations that have made us who we are and the people we are becoming! Let's pick to be happy and appreciate all the triumphs and trials that have brought us to this day. Let's convention Daily, to "Bloom where we are planted"!