Choose to Grow

When we experience things in life it is often the large moments, the big rocks that serve as turning points. They direct the flow of things a certain direction and forge a path or form a barrier. Those big rocks serve as boundaries to protect us or stepping stones for us to utilize during the journey.

It isn’t the big rocks I noticed in this scene, it was the small flowers standing tall and proud next to the big rocks. They stretched out of the water to grow. They are close to the rocks yet grew independently. These beautiful, gentle sprouts had to overcome a lot to get where they are. It struck me that they could easily be overshadowed by their surroundings, but they chose not to let that stop their growth. They could have been washed away by the strong tide, but they stood their ground and flourished. They could have let the circumstances dictate their options, instead they found a sunny place and grew in spite of everything going on around them.

Circumstances in life will never be perfect. Timing will not always be just what we want when we want it. There will never be enough of everything we want, when we want it, in the way we want it. There will always be something that would be better another way. There will always be gaps, or strong tides, or big rocks, or dark spaces. There will always be things beyond our control that we have to deal with each and every time we think the tide is flowing our way. Nothing will ever be perfect. That isn’t a negative statement, it is facing the reality of the world we live in.

So in facing reality, choose to grow anyway. When facing big rocks or strong tides, dark spaces, choose to grow anyway. When nothing is going your way or everything seems to be showing you favor, grow anyway. Don’t let the circumstances around you dictate whether or not you become the person you want to become. It won’t always be easy, or simple, or exactly the way you want. You will have to choose to grow instead of giving up. You will have to choose to prosper instead of being stagnant. In all things, choose to become the better you, the strong you, the best you…the one you know you can become. Be the strong, tall, sprout growing in the shadow of the big rocks.