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ou probably feel tired. Tired of being yourself.

You want to escape and be anything but under the particular burdens that weigh on you daily. Planted where you are, your environment is anything but favorable to be who you really want to be.

Each day you have a choice. You can choose to bloom or wither away in obscurity.

Many of us are so self-defeating, we do not even realize the negative self-talk we tell ourselves.

Ever so quietly and constantly, we whisper to ourselves the lie that no one cares about us. No one cares what we have to say. To write. To share. To create. To give. Blooming is for them. Not us. We are nothing special.

And it’s one of the most damaging lies we can tell ourselves. We all have our time to bloom. And it’s never too late. I will finish with a story about a little red flower that illustrates this well.

I pulled into a gas station not too long ago on a road trip. I was tired. It was a blinding sunny day. The kind of day that forces you to look down to avoid the glare of windshields hurting your eyes.

The highway nearby was racing with people going about their business, and I could feel the air billowing off the street after each speeding pass. As I stood there pumping gas, I noticed something simple yet profoundly moving.

Right next to the highway, in a small patch of weeds wedged in between the highway railing and concrete stood a bright red flower. How it got there, I will never know, but it was so encouraging to see that I had to tell my friends and now share it with you in writing.

Its simple presence told me a few things about life and what it means to bloom where you are planted.

1. It does not matter where you find yourself.
2. It does not matter if everyone around you doesn’t care.
3. You might risk no one appreciating you.
4. You could be surrounded by weeds that are trying to choke you out.
5. In the big scheme of things, you will be insignificant.
6. There is a large chance no one will remember your magnificence.
7. You will feel the heat of those blowing by you at 90 m.p.h.
8. You will need courage.

This beautiful, courageous flower did not care about anyone or anything. It just did all that it could do — bloom.

It could not move to a place where people could appreciate it, celebrate it, or recognize its beauty. It was drama free. It did not complain. It did not blame. It knew its purpose.

Surrounded by weeds and car exhaust, it had every reason to give up and just die. But it did not.

It reached to the sky with all its strength, screaming “I am here! I am here!”

Despite its place in a world infinitely larger than itself, it gracefully took its place with honor.

And it inspired me immensely. I hope you are inspired as well.

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