Whilst visiting friends and enjoying a BBQ recently, something made me stop, chuckle and take this photograph of a drainpipe.
You're probably thinking I should get out more, or find more scintillating friends, but I go out plenty and these are the best friends a girl could wish for. Still, I loved this drainpipe and the life lessons it had for me.
"All life lessons are not learned at college" she thought. "Life teaches them everywhere" - L. M. Montgomery
When you can look at a drainpipe with a weed growing out of it, it's fair to say life lessons are everywhere, if only we'd pay more attention to what we see, hear and experience. So what life lesson presented itself to me during our BBQ? Well, there are a couple of lessons actually...
Drainpipe Weed Seed Life Lesson #1: Don't wait for the perfect moment - take the moment and make it perfect. There will never be the perfect moment, you already know that, but by waiting (and for how long?) you could miss a wonderful opportunity. You will i.e.: never have enough money to start a family, and there is never a perfect moment to launch a new product, so you must start from where you are, with what you have and do the best you can. A great serial entrepreneur mentor of mine taught me this: The slightly imperfect sales letter which is sent, will always out perform the perfect sales letter left in a drawer. And for those of you focusing on a personal development goal right now, it doesn't matter how slow your progress is, quitting sure as hell won't speed it up!
Clearly my weed seed found itself dropped into a dark, damp, plastic environment. These were not ideal - perfect - conditions by any stretch of the imagination. There was no soil, there were no (conventional) nutrients, and there was certainly no sunlight; all essential ingredients to help a seed grow. Furthermore, this drainpipe spends the majority of its life in the shade, so I'm told, so we're not talking about an abundance of warmth here either; but the defiant little bugger grew anyway. If the seed had waited for a perfect environment and circumstances to grow (i.e.: soil, nutrients, sunshine etc), it would inevitably have shriveled and withered in the drain - never realising its full potential. Instead, the seed made the most of the resources available to it. The seed dealt with the reality of the situation, rather than waiting for perfection that was never going to materialise.
Drainpipe Weed Seed Life Lesson #2: It is better to ask for forgiveness, than to seek permission. Don't be stopped or impeded by those who tell you you can't. Who died and made them King/Queen? These are often the people who have given up on their dreams and aspirations and are threatened by your potential, and the real possibility of you showing them up and making them feel inadequate. Read my blog article: Handling The "You're Crazy!" Naysayers for more advice on the managing the Negative Committee in your life, but for now ask yourself these questions: What success have they achieved? What dreams have they fulfilled? What accomplishments can they point to, when advising you - in their supreme being, all-knowing capacity - on what you can and cannot do? Just remember, empty vessels make the most noise.
Drainpipe Weed Seed Life Lesson #3: One of my all-time favourite quotes is this: They tried to bury us, little realising we were seeds. Seeds are buried in the dark, trodden down and rained on. Sound familiar? Well, what happens next depends on you, and only you. If you have the spirit and the indomitable will to succeed, nothing will stop you; not your imperfect circumstances, not your less than ideal environment, or your legion of naysayers. If you have the spirit and the indomitable will you can grow anywhere, achieve anything, in spite of the odds rather than because of them.
Picture in your mind a seed. Any seed will do, but try to imagine my weed's seed (ooh-err missus - you know what I mean) for a moment. Think about how comparatively simple this organism is compared to you. It is not a sentient being, as you are. There is no complex intellect, as there is with you. So if this little simple seed of a weed can grow and achieve against the odds, why the hell can't you?!
Your circumstances may well be challenging right now. You may well feel buried under a pile of .. .errr, find a polite term Karan .... manure, which you are using as an excuse for failing to thrive and survive. Hmmm. You do realise that excuses are for those who don't want it badly enough, don't you? If you do want it badly enough, you will find a way, and keep going until you do - because that's the definition of an indomitable will. Excuses are the lies we tell ourselves so it doesn't have to be our fault.
So, if my little drain seed can grow in a dark, damp, cold, sunless, plastic environment - without warmth or sustenance, then why can't you, in the superior circumstances you find yourself in? No excuses, no surrender! How much time do you think you have exactly? Get on with it!