Nourish

Wednesday’s Wildflower…♥…because a flower can’t be forced to open. As nature intended, it must flourish and develop on its own time.

“Oh, do be careful, Lily,” the old man said to the child.

“But, Grandpa! I’m twirling!”

“I know, love,” he said with a tender smile, “but look down at your feet, darling. You’re about to trample all over that beautiful flower. And something so delicate, it should be given a fair chance to live, to become healthy and strong as it was meant to be.”

Lily plopped down on her hands and knees, a smudge of dirt painting the tip of her chin. “It is a pretty flower, Grandpa! What do you suppose it’s doing here, all by itself.”

The old man squatted down gingerly next to the girl. With a wrinkled hand, he reached out to touch one of the yellow petals. “I suppose the wind must have brought it. The wind has a way of doing that, you know. It scatters seeds to wherever they may fall. A seed can never predict where it’s going to end up.”

“Does it fly like a bird, Grandpa?”

“No, Lily,” he chuckled, “I don’t think so. No…these flowers, I believe, have fluff on them that the wind catches, then they travel around to all sorts of places until they find a home and float down to the ground like a teeny tiny parachute.”

“Coooool,” Lily sighed.

“But, that’s only the beginning,” Grandpa rubbed his chin. “To grow up strong and healthy, a seed for a flower like this must be nourished and well cared for by Mother Nature.”

“Does Mama Nature sing to it?”

“Why yes, by asking the wind to sing a song, a special lullaby that only this particular flower, right here, can hear. And all of the birds that live around it, they grace this flower with song, as well. In fact, I believe that every animal and creature that lives within this forest has something to do with the flower’s existence. All things, big and small, are part of the whole.”

Lily wrinkled her eyebrows. “Grandpa, do you think that I could grow a flower like this? If I took good care of it, and loved it?”

“I know that you can grown anything you want, Lily. If you have nourishing soil, rainwater and food for your flower, and sunshine to help it grow, then all that’s left in the equation is the love that only a true gardener can give.”

Lily gently touched the frail flower, a bit subdued. “I don’t know how to garden, Grandpa.”

“But you do know how to love, Lily. And love, is always ingredient number one. The rest is just extra.”

The essentials for you and I to thrive in health…clean air to breathe, pure water to drink, nourishing food to eat, warm shelter and protection from the elements, sleep and rest to restore and renew ourselves…and love, self-love and otherwise. Like a flower in the wild, that wasn’t intentionally seeded or planted, the essentials to thrive are simple. Best not to make it too complicated.

Thank you for “sharing” and “liking” any blog that moves you. Have a special day…♥

Photos on Visualhunt.com. Photo credit: Fouquier ॐ on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC. Photo credit: arbyreed on VisualHunt / CC BY-NC-SA.