We all see
things about ourselves, our relationships, and our world that we want to
change. Often, this desire leads us to take action toward inner work that we
need to do or toward some external goal. Sometimes, without any big
announcement or momentous shift, we wake up to find that change has happened,
seemingly without us. This can feel like a miracle as we suddenly see that
our self-esteem really does seem to be intact, or our partner actually is
helping out around the house more. We may even wonder whether all of our hard
work had anything to do with it, or if it just happened by way of grace.
As humans, sometimes we have relatively short attention spans, and we can
easily lose track of time. We may worry about a seedling in a pot with our
constant attention and watering for several weeks only to find ourselves
enjoying the blooms it offers and wondering when that happened, and how we
didn’t notice it. Nature, on the other hand, has infinite patience and stays
with a thing all the way through its life. This doesn’t mean that our efforts
play no part in the miracle of change—they do. It’s just that they are one
small part of the picture that finally results in the flowering of a plant,
the shifting of a relationship, the softening of our hearts.
The same laws that govern the growth of plants oversee our own internal and
external changes. We observe, consider, work, and wonder, tilling the soil of
our lives, planting seeds, and tending them. Sometimes the hard part is
knowing when to stop and let go, handing it over to the universe. Usually
this happens by way of distraction or disruption, our attention being called
away to other more pressing concerns. And it is often at these times, when we
are not looking, in the silence of nature’s embrace, that the miracle of
change happens.
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