Survive, Thrive, Don't Languish!

‘You can cut me up all you want, but I will still grow even more lush’. That is the motto of a plant.  

I don’t know if it is a part of growing older, but plants seem to be influencing me over anything else these days. Last year, when we were in the heat of the pandemic, in my effort to share some positivity, I had written about how we should learn to be resilient like plants. They can be limp one moment and opulent the next, after we give them some water. 

 

Who had expected at that time, that this year would be even worse? A back-breaking mockery of our resilience. It has broken us emotionally, mentally, impacted jobs, careers, education, finances, not even to mention the millions of lives lost globally. An irreversible blotch. 

But do we have a choice, other than to persist and survive and even thrive when all this is over. The New York Times attributed the work ‘languishing’ to how everyone is feeling now. But I would say that in our minds, let us take a lesson from the plants and not give up our hopes to thrive.

Last summer, I had a big brawl with my husband because he almost mowed my favorite rose bush down completely. He never liked it much since it was growing skimpy and it was his first effort to get rid of it completely, not taking it out all at once to not offend me even more. Come spring, the bush just grew as verdant as can be and radiated out a hundred flowers. Much to my bewilderment and his complacency, that he did the right thing.

 

More recently, in another amazing instance, I cut off the leafless stems of my age-old money plant, to see if I could generate some new plants out of them. I put them in a vase of water and didn’t pay much attention to the original pot. In two months, the original plant was screaming leaves at me, almost mocking me :-). The cut-off stems had also grown roots, which I planted in a hanging pot.     

The plant gave me a lesson that no matter which end I cut, it would grow what it needed. The base plant grew new leaves and shoots, while the other end grew new roots. It consolidated in me a lesson and a conviction to never let go. I hope these stories will inspire you too.

 

Survive now and thrive when the circumstances allow and as best as you can, erase the languishing!!