Rose lives on....
The gist of this post is that we all have a survival instinct, no matter what is thrown at us.
This is the story about the rose flower shown in the picture below. I once had 3 rose bushes planted in my flower bed. They all thrived and produced beautiful flowers every year but two years ago, they got infested and began to lose their beauty. At this point, I began to pay more attention to them much more than any other plant in my flower bed. I treated and fed them regularly but to no avail. This I did for a whole year and instead of getting the results I was looking for, these rose bushes just kept dying. I got fed up last year and I uprooted them all. I didn't stop there; I poured Weed B Gone on every weed including the spot where the rose bushes used to be just to make sure they were all killed to their roots. Needless to say, I gave up on them.
Earlier this week, looking out the window, I saw something red on my flower bed and upon taking a closer look; it was a lone rose bud sticking out from the spot where one of the bushes used to be. It survived.
I think the lesson in this is that, we may get ugly, sometimes undesirable, and yes, things may not work out just the way we want when we expect it, and of course, people may give up on us and write us off….but it doesn't mean we’re finished.
We can rewrite our own story, again, and as many times as it takes, even in a more poignant and inspiring manner because of the survival instinct inherent in all of us. A lesson from the story of this rose is that, we can fend off whatever rough treatment we’re getting from whomever by the determination to survive and be successful.
Ade
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Thank you for this great lesson Ade.. I don't know much about gardening but I hope your rose can regrow a beautiful bush
Life is really teaching me quite a bit, even from the so-called intangibles. I see things differently now.
That rose is the star in my flower bed. I just keep looking at it with amazement.
Thanks for stopping by, Danny!
Great story, Ade! Another lesson from this story - What will be will be. No matter what comes at you, no matter how long it takes, never give up. You might need to hit rock bottom before you become a rock star.
Another thing, that rose did not need you to survive. It didn't survive when you devoted your time to it for a whole year. It blossomed after you left it alone!
Have a great weekend and enjoy smelling your newly-revived rose!
Onyeka
Having to hit rock bottom before becoming a rock star is what happens to many people but because the process is so painful, we often get off the train a bus top shy of our final destination. Isn't that sad!
The lessons are many, Onyeka, but I think patience is a common denominator in all.
Have a restful weekend.
What a beautiful story, Ade! I love the analogy.
This reminds me of our lilacs that I thought were dead and gone the first year we bought it as a small plant. We forgot to plant them before it turned fall, ahem, and they ended up sitting out on our deck. Well, of course, the frost got to them since you never know here when it'll get cold enough for that and they looked dead as could be. All the leaves turned brown and fell off.
Well, I hated to just give up on it, and thought I'd just bring it in the house for the winter and leave it upstairs in the laundry room and hopefully it'd come back in the spring. It started getting leaf buds on it in the middle of winter and by spring had grown at least a foot taller and gotten quite a few new ones coming up too.
I was amazed when I realized hey, it's growing leaves in the middle of winter. Not to mention, I was amazed at myself for remembering to water it occasionally, lol. It's been out in our yard for 3 or 4 years now and is about 6 feet and still growing bigger.
I hope your survivor continues to grow and flourish in years to come.
Take care and best wishes :)
What I learned from your story is patience, which by all account is a virtue and an attribute for success. Thanks for sharing.
It will be interesting to see how my rose turns out. I would be watching it for sure.
Great story. I have rose bushes and other plants. I trimmed them back early in the spring and they sprouted up new branches, but the old branches didn't grow any leaves. I don't know what I did wrong. They did bloom flowers from the new branches. I guess I'll just try to even them out in the fall. Rose bushes are pretty tough though, they can get thru drought and all kinds of weather.
Let's see what happens to this one. I hope it continues to thrive. Perhaps I'll take some gardening lessons from you.
Thanks for your insights.
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Fumine-this is an incredibleblog. Awhile back I took a sign language course. We all had to choose a song to sign to the class-my song was "The Rose" by Bette Midler. It is so much like your blog. After reading that we can never give up. Thank you for some wonderful words of encouragement.
Thanks Jude! That rose taught me a few good lessons.