Toward the end of last month, one of my BFF’s asked a group of BFF’s to identify one word that will take us from 2017 into 2018. At the time, I said that my word was R-E-A-D-Y (smile). Since playing in the 2018 cold, and I mean brrrrrisk, I have to admit, I was not ready for what was awaiting me. What’s your word since tasting the January air?
For this post I had plans to challenge you to think about what challenged you in 2017? What did 2017 expose to you? What did the year expose of you? And of course, how will you grab 2018 by the horns and ride the bull with tenacity and enthusiasm…, but I’m not.
I was going to deliver a power packed post of encouragement for when 2018 threats take off and situations begin to turn the inside of your soul, you’d feel motivated to endure the pain and grief and affect others with choice words from your lips. But I’m not.
I also prepared my own moment of transparency since discovering that “every thing and every one are not always what they seem to be” no matter what it looks like, how long you have known them, and especially no matter what the situation is making you feel. Emotions are tricky and most often, have a mind of their own if you have not yet learned how to control and discipline them, they will RULE you, like bad butt kids. I thought that reminding my readers about how the power of the mind and how especially the power of the tongue can either lead to hopefulness or hopelessness would be a great mindfulness set up to tackle 2018 with FIRE. Yeah, but no.
IN-stead, take a look at this…
What you are looking at is what use to be a stem in a home plant of mine. Since being quested to name my plant “Shonda”, I have taken-a-caring to her a lot more attentively, kinda sorta as if she is – “ME.” The other day, I’m pruning Shonda and for a moment, I was reminded of how, from my own experiences, pruning HURTS!
So as I am picking away the deadening leaves, I notice that the entire bottom of a stem is DEAD. I gently began to pull the stem away from the others and the stem gladly removed itself with no real pressure, as if the stem was just waiting to fall off.
IN-stantly, I was reminded of the unhealthiness of relationships that I have engaged in all while knowing the relationship was going to no real place or point of destination, but in circles. When I removed the stem, I then separated the dead part from what still had life…
In-dulge me for a minute. Look closely at the end of the dead stem. There is a darkening around the edges, a look of aging, and if you begin to look upward, the stem starts to look scaly. Now, look at what was still the tip of the stem and how green the leaves are; how firm and youthful the leaves still look.
How on earth can the two of these images co-exist and remain 1? They cannot. Eventually, DEATH would continue to eat away at the life of the leaves, then the entire plant, because the life of the plant is less powerful than the death that has occurred, unless PRUNED.
I remembered the feelings of pruning when I thought of a dead relationship. Then, I was silently reminded that in order to save Shonda, you must go back and dig up the root to that stem, that dead relationship.
In-so, this ROOT had to be removed to savor LIFE for Shonda.
So pruning consists of removing dead parts from the body where life still exists. But that’s not all. I’m no Green Thumb, but I do know that to be preventative, Shonda now needs a little more structure added to the leaves for a fuller look so the continued growth experience can move upward and not leaning over, separate from the other stems, so death can creep in and begin to conquer and divide. [Think about your own relationships.] Another thing I know, at least about maintaining life for Shonda, is that she’s going to need some fresh earth added to her pot and placed in a different area of the house so better lighting can overwhelm her entire body, not just the one side versus the other. [Think about your own mental and emotional space] She gets watered regularly, so I’m not concerned with her nutrients-we’re better in that area. [Think about your physical condition.]
But this is the look we’re going for…
IN-sight tells me, I need to keep an eye out on the two hanging around…
Written by: Dr. Fuller
