Let A Thousand Flowers Bloom

And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. 

- Anais Nin, Danish diarist  

This quote was recently sent to me in one of those inspirational newsletter emails from a dieting website I sometimes visit.  I get a few of those emails a week, and usually just hit "delete" before even fully glancing at it.  But for some reason, this time the quotation jumped off the screen at me and has stayed in my mind.

Perhaps it was the timing of the email.  It came last week when I was in a full blown downward spiral of lost self confidence, self doubt, and - I have to admit it - self pity.   I was curled into a tight bud of frustration.  I was angry with myself for having stayed that way for so long.  I had allowed my fear of failing, of not being as good as I want to be, to stop me from taking the risk to bloom.  And I felt like I was whithering. 

I was fortunate to have The Man of the House reminding me I have his support and his faith in me, which helped to start nurturing my faith in myself.   Oh, I didn't make it easy on him.  Poor guy.  He knew I was upset.  He wanted to help me.  I wanted to stay curled up inside myself.  After several attempts to get me to open up and talk about what was going on - I think he was just as frustrated with me as I was with myself.  But fortunately I cracked.   And I'm glad I did. 

Now, I just have to figure out exactly which direction I need to turn and then to open my petals wide to the possibilities.

So, today I challenge you to ask yourself... are you happy being curled tight into a bud?  Or are you ready to take the risk to bloom?