Last week, I shared how a magnolia bloom inspired me to linger a little longer in each moment to make sure I extract all the gifts I am meant to receive. If you missed it,
click here to read. That wasn’t the only lesson from magnolias that came to me that day, so let me share the other one.
Continuing on my walk that day, I approached another magnolia tree and could faintly smell magnolia fragrance, despite the absence of any visible blooms. I broke a piece off one of the leaves to see if perhaps the leaf carried the fragrance. Actually, it was quite the opposite. They smell very bitter.
I don’t know exactly what was giving off the scent, but another spiritual download unfolded in front of me. A magnolia bloom is one of the most extraordinary flowers and their fragrance rivals that of any other, to me anyway. And yet, this very beautiful, sweet-smelling flower blossoms into its full glory, while situated among bitter leaves.
How many of us feel like we have been surrounded by “bitter leaves” at some point in our lives, or maybe even now? Bitter people, tough circumstances? Yet the magnolias prove one more time that we can stay on course and fill the world with our gifts, despite who and what we’re surrounded by.
Just because other people give into becoming bitter instead of better, we don’t have to. We can decide to be unstoppable. Hard challenges and obstacles grow us into the unique individuals we are created to be. Life always brings change, but our flexibility and tenacity carries us into each next blooming season of life.
Gratitude for the people, places and things that encouraged our resilience is always a great gift to cultivate. Rather than bearing ill-will and resentments, let’s acknowledge and give thanks for how much we learned and developed specifically as a result of what we’ve come through.
An excerpt from the daily meditation in Finding the Gift for August 21, "Annual or Perennial," seems like a great way to end today’s meditation.
The champions of life have figured out how to be perennials, to come back and bloom over multiple seasons, and you can too. …
Resilience: taking what you’re given and bouncing back better each and every time, adapting as necessary for you to thrive. It’s never too late to allow your resilient spirit to blossom. It’s time.
