Growing can be scary.  Unless you are a kid.  Then growing is a must!  And every single kid will tell you that they just can’t grow fast enough.  They need to catch up with big sister and do all the things she can do or be grown up like their older brother because he gets to stay home by himself now.  But why do we as adults forget that we also need to grow?  We encourage our kids to change and embrace new adventures, different types of people, and to experiment with things we haven’t tried before.  What happens to us when we get older?  Do we forget that growing is a must for us too?  I think so…

For several years now, I have planted a vegetable garden over Memorial Day and always look forward to the wonderful tomatoes and zucchini that are results of my loving care and watering schedule.  I don’t have to plant a garden, but I do enjoy the benefits of my work as checking for new buds and baby cucumbers excite me.  Fresh salsa just tastes that much better with fresh ingredients that I grew, too.  I usually plant tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, and zucchini.  Some times, I will throw in a new plant, just to see what it does.  Every year, I plant way too much and end up giving extras away to friends because there are too many for us to eat.  That makes me feel good too. Do any of you grow a vegetable garden?  What do you plant?

Growing up, I remember that the flowers were there to look at — not to touch.  Sometimes, it is difficult to smell a flower unless you gently pull the stem to your nose to get the full aroma silently wafting from the blossom.  Maybe it didn’t help that my dad planted a lot of roses and who wants to touch those?  I have a giant hosta that gets bigger every year and a clematis that leaves my in-laws envious.  My hydrangea and hibiscus also produce very pretty buds, year after year.  Of course, I usually plant perennials because I love to watch them come back year after year.  Do you plant annuals or perennials?  What is your favorite flower?  Mine is the rose….has been for a long time.

If we are surrounded by growing, whether it be through our kids or our garden, why do we shy away from it when we understand we must grow as well?  We are going to change based on the people who enter and leave our lives, the experiences we have, and the choices we make.  Even if we make a decision that does not end up the way we would have wanted, we still grow by learning from that.  We develop opinions of life in general based on what we see, hear, and feel.  We all have this yearning desire to grow — it is innate for all of us.  We strive to be better — to learn more — to grow.  But we don’t.  Why not?

Here is what I think:

• We are afraid to grow.
•  We are terrified that we can’t.
• We compare ourselves to others.
• We think we won’t grow if we don’t want to.
• We believe we will make a mistake.

Any of those apply to you?  We can all find a reason not to grow, but growing is inevitable while we are alive, just like the plants in my garden and around my house.  I cannot stop them from growing as long as they are planted and they will come back every year.

But the inevitable is that we HAVE to grow!  Every day, we meet new people, learn something new, and share our lives with others.  Yet, we fight it.  We go kicking and screaming in the other direction, trying to keep things as they are.  We make excuses.  We pretend that nothing matters.  But it ALL matters!  We have to forge past what holds us back and let loose!  No flower or cucumber plant decides, “nah…I think I will just rot instead.”  They cannot fight their natural purpose to grow with the right amount of sunlight and water, and a little bit of soil.

You will grow.  Accept that and stop competing against everyone else in the “garden” — just be you.  Unlike the tomato plant or the rose-bush, they can only become the type of plant they are.  We, however, can decide if we grow into a flower or a weed.  Which one are you?

Michelle A. Homme 2014 ©