Friday, October 24, 2014

Don't Be Afraid To Keep Blooming

Every weekend I've gone outside, prepared to put away my garden for the winter. And every weekend I've seen something like this:


Who could possibly pull up blooming morning glories (or cosmos or zinnias or marigolds)? They continue to open against a palette of bright orange and gold leaves falling slowly in the yard.

I came across an article last week that talked about "late bloomers"--people throughout history who didn't make their great discovery, create their best art, write their best-selling novel until they were much older. When I went back to find the link, I found dozens of articles about people like actor Brian Cranston, KFC founder Colonel Sanders, authors Sue Monk Kidd, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Julia Child, even Dr.Seuss. Don't worry if you haven't hit your stride in your 30s (or 40s or even 50s), these articles reassure. There's always time to do your big thing.

What I wonder is why we don't talk more about the ever-bloomers: those people who find success of a kind early in life, then switch things up when life changes require it. I see examples of this all the time. 

Like my neighbor, who announced last week that she'd passed the boards and was interviewing for her first job as a nurse. She's 59 and only recently finished several years of serious studying and practical work. Or the colleague who shared that she had overcome her fear of taking a new direction and decided to go back to school with a plan of "reinventing" herself. Everywhere I look I see other small businesses rethinking and rebranding; I'm in good company as I work to do the same with my own business this fall. 

How about you? Are you finding that you can "bloom where you're planted" (like my morning glory)? Or do you need a change of scenery in your life to thrive (like the begonias I brought inside to protect from the frost)? What would it take to be able to keep blooming?

No comments:

Post a Comment