Thank you
Have you ever felt like you are not good enough?
We can probably all think about times when we have not felt good enough when something hasn't gone according to plan. It can make us feel like we don't belong, that what we have, who we are, isn't valued.
Can't it feel a bit like this?
I want to be a flower
But it has been decreed
By some inhumane judgment
That I am just a weed!
I’m not in need of much to live,
Will flourish ‘most anywhere
I don’t need special flower food,
I don’t need special care.
Why is it that the fancy flowers
Are the ones that get attention,
Whilst me tossed on the compost heap
Don’t even get a mention?
You know, we are brought up to aim to be the best in show, the golden bloom.
The truth is:
‘The world is made of people who never quite get into the first team and who just miss the prizes at the flower show.’ (John Bronowski)
It is in all our experiences to be disappointed and to sometimes feel like the weed in the poem.
It can stem (groan) from the way in which we are 'seen'.
Growing up, some of us are seen for the true essence we are; our spontaneity is celebrated, our goofiness adored, our humanness honoured.
If this is you, please raise your hand, because the rest of us want to know what that is like!
For many of us, parts of us were not mirrored back to us for the adorable uniqueness that they were. Our gangliness was 'clumsy', our questions 'nagging', our curiosity 'impertinent'.
What may be revered by one person may be rejected by another.
When you feel less than, do you puff up to try and prove your value?
Gosh, I know I have!
Has it worked for you?
I know that it hasn't worked for me, because I have neatly handed over my sense of worth to another.
Let's not freely hand over the bouquet of our brilliance to someone else, only for it to whither under their gaze.
The secret isn't to 'fix' you by changing those parts that felt rejected by another.
Weeds do not win the flower show, but they bring nutrients and water from deep in the soil; they prevent soil erosion; they increase organic matter; they fix nutritional imbalances and provide homes for loads of microbes and animals.
They are pretty special... and resilient.
Is it a case that you are valuing the wrong thing about what you have to offer and this is leading you to ignore the positives?
Let's get curious for a second, using the feeling of the week - which is gratitude.
I'd like to invite you to write a gratitude list.
NOT for the obvious things but for the things that you are feeling low about.
How can you take those elements of yourself and appreciate them?
This may help you to see things in a different light and that is when you gain creativity and innovation, which will help you bloom.
Here's to your bloomin' brilliance.
And thank you, in this week of gratitude. Thank you for choosing to have this email in your inbox, for choosing to open it and read it. Writing this to you each week is one of my favourite things to do.
That's it for now,
'Til next time,
Jacky x