Mom has always loved flowers. Many things have changed as a result of her having dementia but one thing that remains constant is her love for them. Her favorite bouquets are a mix of assorted, colorful spring blooms. We try to keep fresh ones around for her to see.
Do you think that any of her flowers compete with
each other as they grow in a garden? Does the tulip feel that it doesn’t
measure up because it has so few petals? Does the carnation worry that its
thick, ruffled blooms make it look fat? Does the salvia fret that it may be too
tall? Does the bluebonnet feel limited by its humble lineage compared to the
cultivated history of the rose?
Flowers don’t worry with comparison; they do what
they were created to do. They develop, they grow, and they bloom. Each one is a
living masterpiece.
You and I are different, too. We may have small differences;
you may be taller. (I promise it wouldn’t take much.) We may have education differences; I hope to
hang a third degree on the wall. We may have big differences; you may live in a
third world country. We may have family differences; I grew up with an
abusive, alcoholic father. Our differences may be many. We may look different, talk
different, think different, and act different. But whatever our differences are
doesn’t make one of us better. It simply makes us, well, different.
God absolutely wants us to be the best, but not to
best someone else. His desire is for us to be the best version of ourselves, to use everything we have: our experiences, our talents, our gifts, our successes,
and even our failures, to blossom into the unique person He created us to be.
He doesn’t want me to be the best speaker, the best
writer, the best mother, the best wife or the best believer. He wants me to be
the best Ann I can be. And He wants that same thing for you.
So, if you are worried about how you stack up against
someone else, stop. You—not another copy of someone else—were created for this
time, this place, this moment. Strive to
develop yourself, to learn more, to love more, to do whatever it is you do better,
but don’t measure yourself against anyone else. The only comparison worth
making is with the you you were yesterday.
Message
for the Journey:
A tulip doesn’t compete with the other flowers
growing in the garden; it simply blooms. You aren’t the model in the magazine,
you aren’t the neighbor down the street, you aren’t even your sibling. You are
God’s unique, perfect creation. Don’t waste energy on comparison. Just bloom.
©Ann Wilds
For
we are God’ handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians
2:10
