Dead Plants and Other Missed Opportunities

Sometimes life’s greatest lessons come to us in simple, yet profound ways.  This week’s video is about an insight that hit me during a rather lame attempt I made with gardening.  I hope you enjoy it!

Here’s what I said in the video:

See this? I bought it two weeks ago. I was so excited when I saw it. It was beautiful! These flowers were pink and vibrant with the just the perfect graceful little curve. And I couldn’t wait to get it home and put it in my garden.

So I bought it, I took it home and I didn’t have time to plant it right away. I left it on my patio and then I went and did all the things I thought I needed to do.

The next day I thought “Oh! My plants!” But I didn’t have time to plant them that day either. So I turned the hose on them and watered them and made sure they still looked beautiful and vibrant.

And the next day came and went.

And the day after that — “Aagh – oh no! My plants, my beautiful flowers!” I ran out to the patio and they looked like this.

And I realized something. When you get an idea — something that’s bursting in your head and blooming and beckoning, you’ve got to take action on it — when it’s in the prime of its life. Because if you don’t, those ideas, they fly right out of your head and they go somewhere else.

So, if you have something that’s blossoming, plant it now.

Plant while you’re blooming.

Beyond Boundaries

The above video is about a riddle my young son told me a long time ago that I think about whenever I find myself longing to venture beyond my limitations to explore fresh, new opportunities and unchartered territory. I wonder if he realizes just how much that little story has inspired me. I hope it does the same for you.

Here’s what I said in the video:

One day my son came home with a riddle. He said “Mom, pretend like you’re in a box.” So, I said “okay”, and proceeded to envision walls all around me. Then he challenged, “How do you get out?”

I said, “Well, I punch through it.”

He rolled his eyes and said “No.”

So I guessed again. “I know! I get a box cutter and I slice through the box.”

He took a deep sigh and repeated, “NO.”

And I said “Well, how about if I chew through it?”

He could no longer contain his frustration with me. “Ugh. MOM!”

So I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Okay, how do I do it?”  To which he simply replied,

“You just stop pretending!”

We all have our pretend boxes, don’t we.

For more on moving beyond boundaries:

Busting Out of the Box

The Pinocchio Principle: Becoming the Leader You Were Born to Be

Clearing the Way for Success

Lightening Your Load: Mind Over Matter

Priorities, Productivity and Perspective

Image by Dusan Zidar from Dreamstime.com.