A flower growing from solid rock stopped me in my tracks.
It wasn’t trying to impress anyone.
It was simply doing what life called it to do…
Grow.
The other day I was climbing my favorite mountain.
It is one of those places that never disappoints.
The climb is challenging.
The views are extraordinary.
The air seems cleaner.
The noise of the world fades away.
And if you pay attention, life has a way of speaking to you there.
On this particular day, something caught my eye.
At first glance it seemed insignificant.
Just a flower.
But it wasn’t where the flower was growing that amazed me.
It was how.
The flower was growing straight out of a rock.
Not beside it.
Not near it.
Out of it.
Surrounded by stone.
Surrounded by obstacles.
Surrounded by conditions that should have prevented it from ever existing.
Yet there it was.
Alive.
Colorful.
Beautiful.
Complete.
I PASSED BY A FLOWER…
AND IT SPOKE TO ME LIKE AN OLD FRIEND.
The flower seemed to be saying:
“Look at me.”
“Look what is possible.”
“Look what determination can accomplish.”
I stood there wondering how much effort had gone into that simple blossom.
How many storms had it endured?
How many dry days?
How many cold nights?
How much resistance had it overcome before finally breaking through into the sunlight?
The flower did not complain.
It did not argue.
It did not make excuses.
It simply grew.
LOOK AT ME…
I JOIN YOU AS YOU GO THROUGH LIFE.
LOOK AT ME.
The lesson became clear.
Life itself is constantly pushing upward.
Seeds push through dirt.
Trees push through wind.
Rivers push through stone.
The chick pushes through the shell.
The butterfly pushes through the cocoon.
Nature is filled with examples of growth overcoming resistance.
Giant trees use the wind to strengthen their roots.
Coal uses pressure to become diamonds.
The moon influences the tides and keeps the oceans moving.
Everywhere you look, opposing forces are working together to create something greater.
One force meets another.
Growth emerges.
As I wrote in Pearls for the Soul:
“Resistance is often life’s way of revealing your strength.”
— Richie Naggar, Pearls for the Soul
How much greater then is the force within you?
Think about it.
What challenge are you facing?
What obstacle stands before you?
What rock seems impossible to break through?
The flower never asked whether the rock was too large.
The flower simply responded to the life within it.
That same life exists within you.
It is not your destiny to quit.
It is not your destiny to surrender.
It is not your destiny to become defined by obstacles.
You were designed to grow.
You were designed to adapt.
You were designed to overcome.
WHEREVER YOU GO…
THERE YOU ARE.
Many people spend their lives trying to escape themselves.
They change jobs.
Change cities.
Change relationships.
Change circumstances.
Yet they keep encountering the same challenges.
Why?
Because they brought themselves with them.
The real journey is not outward.
It is inward.
The flower did not become beautiful because it found better rocks.
It became beautiful because it fulfilled its nature.
The lesson applies to all of us.
Your peace is not hiding somewhere else.
Your purpose is not hiding somewhere else.
Your strength is not hiding somewhere else.
They are already within you.
Waiting.
Growing.
Seeking expression.
HOW MAGNIFICENT THINGS REALLY ARE…
IF YOU CAN SEE THEM.
That flower growing from the rock was not trying to teach anyone anything.
Yet it taught me plenty.
It reminded me that life is a privilege.
That adversity is not always the enemy.
That growth often comes disguised as difficulty.
And that beauty frequently emerges from the places we least expect.
The next time life places a rock in your path…
Remember the flower.
Grow anyway.
Bloom anyway.
Become anyway.
And let your actions speak louder than your circumstances ever could.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you