“I will not be another flower, picked for my beauty and left to die. I will be wild, difficult to find, and impossible to forget.” – Erin Van Vuren

I always smile when my children pick flowers for me. Even if they are weeds, I always melt at the gesture. Pure love. Pure thoughtfulness. I usually drop the flowers they pick in a cup of water and sit them in the sun, knowing that without their roots, they will eventually die.

I look back at the times in my life when my roots were exposed and I was living above-ground. Life was seemingly beautiful, but I was taking chances on everything. Applying to anything. I wasted a lot of time and energy. I was jumbled and vague.

I am currently reading a book, Becoming the Woman God Wants Me to Be: A 90-Day Guide to Living the Proverbs 31 Life. It was a gift from my sister (Thanks, sis!). The book tasked me with coming up with a mantra for myself. I have three. One of them is, “stay rooted as I rise.”

“…as I rise,” is the cornerstone of the phrase.

“…as I rise,” is saying while I can clearly see the top, I haven’t reached the pinnacle yet.

“…as I rise,” is suggesting that I will have to have patience…I may even be in a holding pattern.

But I’m rooted. 

I entered into my “flowering season” when I decided to not let successes, accolades, critics, rejections, or other peoples’ approaches-to-situations dictate my moves in life. It’s a type of blossoming I cannot describe. Not only have I saved time and energy in my flowering season, I’ve also discovered what matters most. I know my purpose. And I understand how I should use my creative gifts and talents to reach my full potential.

This is where I am currently planted. And it is a firm-planting.

One thing I know for sure is that we will eventually wilt, if we are not grounded in our purpose. Do you feel you’re living a life that is jumbled? Vague? Maybe you feel pulled at from all directions? Take it from me, picked flowers eventually wilt. Soil is vital to your growth and survival. Stay rooted. Continue to blossom. Be true to yourself. And watch how many butterflies you attract.