Bloom Where You Are Planted

Today I’m answering a reader question. Since this isn’t a how-to guide but rather a sharing of my experience for you to take as you will, I’ll share a piece of wisdom my mom gave to me and let you take that as you will, too. Given the paying it forward nature of the question, this feels like a good share today.

Here is the question…

“Of all the things you’ve learned, what is the one concept that will have the biggest impact on you? Your family? Friends? And galaxies far, far away?”

Growing up, my mom had quotes hanging in various places of the house. Always in tiny packages – little framed prints tucked into bathrooms, or hanging on the window in front of the kitchen sink – they seemed to be thoughtfully displayed in places one would naturally linger. Little messages to contemplate while washing hands or dishes.

In the kitchen window hung a painted glass piece, tied to a suction cup by clear filament, maybe 2” x 3”. It said “Bloom Where You Are Planted” in black letters and had a few colorful flowers painted on as well. I remember first noticing it when I was really young, lying on the kitchen counter with my head leaning back into the sink so my mom could wash my hair. I always thought it was pretty, especially when it would catch the sun, and thought about what it meant over the years. Sometimes I thought it was a nice idea, something as charming as the perfectly painted leaves, but as I got older it made me mad. I wanted to go places, and decide where I wanted to plant myself! The idea felt like settling and I’m not a settler. I took it pretty literally.

Now I’ve come to relate to it in a very different way. “Planted” doesn’t only mean where I physically am, it is also about circumstances. Life delivers all sorts of experiences, planting me in them whether I like it or not. It is up to me to choose how to respond – to bloom or not to bloom.

There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.

– Ryan Holiday

I was planted into the need for 12 surgeries in order to claim my body. I could have chosen to perceive it as terrible, a nightmare, unlucky, poor me. But, I don’t see it that way. No! It is a GIFT! To wallow is to wither, to lean in is to bloom. So I choose to bloom.

To bloom is to embrace adversity and challenges.

To bloom is to thrive.

To bloom is to be this tree. When it had no ground in which to grow, it grew deeper roots. It found the ground in order to bloom.

To bloom is to adapt, like this tree:

To bloom is to use every tool I own to bloom through whatever circumstance I am planted in because everything I am going through is growing me. And if I run out of tools, I’ll get some more!

To bloom is to embrace life’s challenges, seeing them as a way to grow stronger, better – a gift.

To bloom is to rise to occasions, not settle into self-pity. There is something for me in every circumstance that comes my way – find it and grow through it.

To bloom is to remember that window trinket, the lesson I internalized as a little girl, and live by it as the highest form of gratitude for the gift of the message.

Each seed is planted in a unique space on earth. Blooming where I am planted is a reminder to be my unique self blooming in my unique space. The world needs each of us to bloom where we are planted. 

To bloom where I am planted is my mom’s language, and to view the obstacle as the way is mine.

Bloom Where You Are Planted = The Obstacle Is The Way

What does this mean to you?

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