Notes From A Wildflower
How many of us looked at a mirror today?
I'm sure most of us did (yes, even the selfie camera counts!) but there is something about reflection that makes it deep.
Reflection is a process of looking back at something that shows who you are. When you have come so far from somewhere or are about to close a chapter, you reflect on the lessons you learnt.
Having not written for a while, I decided to share my story.
This post is slightly longer than others but fully packed with lessons. Kindly excuse the "me"'s and "I" s but it is necessary to hint a few of my experiences with these lessons.
My hope is that you may gain some depth in the little lessons for the greatest impact.
Are you ready?
Welcome to Notes From A Wildflower 🌸🌺
Why a Wildflower?
At the beginning of this year, my close friend and mentor introduced this brilliant metaphor for how God sees us growing this year. Wildflowers are beautiful flowers that grow naturally and freely. They have many characteristics, but in this context, one will be focussed on.
Wildflowers are unique and bloom where they are planted.
This simple characteristic became a giant rudder that guided my ship because there is power in knowing who you are and why you exist. To display what I learnt, here are 3 powerful lessons (which I will call "How to Bloom...God's way." ) that God has taught me over the past months.
How to Bloom...God's Way.
1) "You don't have to be everywhere and do everything to be relevant."🌷
If there is one thing that humans desire, it is relevance.
We all have the innate desire to create meaning in our lives wherever we are, and often times, we feel that this is by being everywhere and doing everything. However, this is not the only way to add value.
I felt that by being in every school club and activity would make people notice my value, but I ended up being frustrated and angered.
The thing about relevance and leadership is that you don't have to be on the podium to shine You don't have to do the large jobs to be relevant but you can do little things with excellence.
Every single thing in nature is designed to do a particular function and what makes it beautiful is uniqueness working in sync.
Similarly, wildflowers are beautiful because they are simply wild. You are relevant because of the unique value you add in your way where you are. Don't try to be anything else less than yourself.
2) "If someone had the same name as you, what would make YOU different?" 🌻
Imagine a place where everyone around you had similar characteristics, what would make you stand out?
Personally, this is something I faced at ALA. Everyone around me seemed to be intelligent, writers, poets and artists. But in this flux of colours, finding a focus on what makes me different helped me find my significance.
Even though everyone around you has the similar characteristics or calling, you are as unique as your fingerprint.
There are good writers, poets and artists everywhere, but we all write uniquely according to our experiences and characters. Knowing this helped me find uniqueness and ultimately, my significance.
.
Find out what makes your heart skip a beat or makes you come alive. Once you do (mind you, it will not be found overnight), pursue it with all your life.
3) "Bloom where you are planted" 🌼
Life is filled with unexpected turns and undoubtedly, many (if not all) of us never pictured where we are now. For instance, I never pictured myself being at this school, but I have learnt to add value where I am with the talents I have.
In the unexpected turns, use each season to know more about yourself.
One thing about wildflowers is that they grow anywhere and transform places into havens of beautiful colour. Similarly, perhaps where you are is a place waiting for you to bloom and bring out the colour.
Amidst all of this, the title still says, "How to Bloom...God's way", so who else is better to give a better example of blooming and thriving authentically than Jesus Himself.
Jesus was a peculiar character because to many people, He made such huge claims of being the Son of God and refused to be defined by His past and background.
In His life, Jesus was able to demonstrate these 3 lessons (and more) in exemplary styles:
Jesus was not a people pleaser (Lesson 1) and showed His relevance where He (rather God) told Him to do so.
He added difference by knowing why He is called and affirming Himself in God's Word daily (Lesson 2).
He also performed miracles and spoke powerful words (His calling) wherever He went (Lesson 3).
In essence, as long as this blog post is, the underlying lesson is this:
You are unique and you are here for a reason. And through Jesus, we can discover and embrace our uniqueness.
We are different from one another but we still matter and have an identity.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made and carefully crafted.
As you go about the rest of your days, remember this one thing:
No matter what happened before, through Jesus we are still His children. You are a child of a King.
"Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else" - Galatians 6:4.
#NotesFromAWildflower
#YouMatter
Guide. Light. Inspire
I'm sure most of us did (yes, even the selfie camera counts!) but there is something about reflection that makes it deep.
Reflection is a process of looking back at something that shows who you are. When you have come so far from somewhere or are about to close a chapter, you reflect on the lessons you learnt.
Having not written for a while, I decided to share my story.
This post is slightly longer than others but fully packed with lessons. Kindly excuse the "me"'s and "I" s but it is necessary to hint a few of my experiences with these lessons.
My hope is that you may gain some depth in the little lessons for the greatest impact.
Are you ready?
Welcome to Notes From A Wildflower 🌸🌺
Why a Wildflower?
At the beginning of this year, my close friend and mentor introduced this brilliant metaphor for how God sees us growing this year. Wildflowers are beautiful flowers that grow naturally and freely. They have many characteristics, but in this context, one will be focussed on.
Wildflowers are unique and bloom where they are planted.
This simple characteristic became a giant rudder that guided my ship because there is power in knowing who you are and why you exist. To display what I learnt, here are 3 powerful lessons (which I will call "How to Bloom...God's way." ) that God has taught me over the past months.
How to Bloom...God's Way.
1) "You don't have to be everywhere and do everything to be relevant."🌷
We all have the innate desire to create meaning in our lives wherever we are, and often times, we feel that this is by being everywhere and doing everything. However, this is not the only way to add value.
I felt that by being in every school club and activity would make people notice my value, but I ended up being frustrated and angered.
The thing about relevance and leadership is that you don't have to be on the podium to shine You don't have to do the large jobs to be relevant but you can do little things with excellence.
Every single thing in nature is designed to do a particular function and what makes it beautiful is uniqueness working in sync.
Similarly, wildflowers are beautiful because they are simply wild. You are relevant because of the unique value you add in your way where you are. Don't try to be anything else less than yourself.
2) "If someone had the same name as you, what would make YOU different?" 🌻
Personally, this is something I faced at ALA. Everyone around me seemed to be intelligent, writers, poets and artists. But in this flux of colours, finding a focus on what makes me different helped me find my significance.
Even though everyone around you has the similar characteristics or calling, you are as unique as your fingerprint.
There are good writers, poets and artists everywhere, but we all write uniquely according to our experiences and characters. Knowing this helped me find uniqueness and ultimately, my significance.
.
Find out what makes your heart skip a beat or makes you come alive. Once you do (mind you, it will not be found overnight), pursue it with all your life.
3) "Bloom where you are planted" 🌼
In the unexpected turns, use each season to know more about yourself.
One thing about wildflowers is that they grow anywhere and transform places into havens of beautiful colour. Similarly, perhaps where you are is a place waiting for you to bloom and bring out the colour.
Amidst all of this, the title still says, "How to Bloom...God's way", so who else is better to give a better example of blooming and thriving authentically than Jesus Himself.
Jesus was a peculiar character because to many people, He made such huge claims of being the Son of God and refused to be defined by His past and background.
In His life, Jesus was able to demonstrate these 3 lessons (and more) in exemplary styles:
Jesus was not a people pleaser (Lesson 1) and showed His relevance where He (rather God) told Him to do so.
He added difference by knowing why He is called and affirming Himself in God's Word daily (Lesson 2).
He also performed miracles and spoke powerful words (His calling) wherever He went (Lesson 3).
In essence, as long as this blog post is, the underlying lesson is this:
You are unique and you are here for a reason. And through Jesus, we can discover and embrace our uniqueness.
We are different from one another but we still matter and have an identity.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made and carefully crafted.
As you go about the rest of your days, remember this one thing:
No matter what happened before, through Jesus we are still His children. You are a child of a King.
"Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else" - Galatians 6:4.
#NotesFromAWildflower
#YouMatter
Guide. Light. Inspire
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