Flowers

Last Saturday, I decided that I wanted to plant flowers all around my house. To accomplish this, I weeded a couple of flowerbeds and got everything ready. My parents then agreed to my plan, and we bought five flats of flowers, which equal about 250 individual flowers. We started to plant them on Saturday, but then it got dark and we didn’t have enough time to finish. I watered the ones I had done, and then I went inside.

On Monday, we began to plant them again. I checked on the flowers that had been planted, and, to my absolute horror, they looked wilted and there were white spots on some of the leaves. I was very sad. I ran to ask my mom if she knew what the problem was. She laughed and unconcernedly said, “It’s a shock to be planted.” My mom then quieted my fears by telling me that they would be fine, and they just needed more time to adjust. I’m happy to report that they’re now looking great, but this comment has really made me think.

The phrase, “it’s a shock to be planted,” has gone through my brain many times. Not only does it apply to flowers, but also to us in our lives. In any new situation we encounter, we have to learn how to deal with the “shock.” This can be from big things to something as simple as being asked to come up to the board and answer questions. This can stretch someone (especially if they aren’t 100% sure with their answer). If the situation is handled well, a person can learn from it, even if they do make a mistake. It is better that this person took the opportunity, and failed, than to never have tried at all. This, once again, is perfectly personified in the flowers. In a greenhouse, a plant is perfectly sheltered. It sits in its small pot, which gives it plenty of room, next to people who are similar to it. The plant receives water at the same time every day and is never too cold or hot. When a flower is finally planted, I would imagine if feels slighted. How dare these people make it do something that it doesn’t want to do! Yet, if the flower were allowed to stay in its pot, it would eventually wither and die because it would have no way to get bigger and better. Planting it gives the flower this opportunity to improve itself.

In our lives we must also do this. Be willing to leave the protected shell that you live in!! Talk to different people. Try new things. At the time, it may seem like a bad idea, or it may appear that no good has been done, but slowly and steadily it allows us to become better and to grow up. Try to remember this as we start high school because you’d hate to be one of those sad adults who never learned these very basic skills.