As is true with most people, I love flowers. Every shape, size and color. From long stem to short stem, I admire them all. But I have always pondered one ironic phenomenon concerning flowers.
When you cut a flower and place it in a vase, you are actually removing that flower from its source of life. Yet it continues to have the look of life and vitality, even though the death process has already begun. With proper care and nourishment, a flower may continue to look healthy for days or even weeks, but eventually the death process overcomes the fragrance and loveliness of even the heartiest and most beautiful blossom.
Have you ever considered that the same reality applies to humans as well? Scientists and medical researchers tell us that from the moment of birth, the death process actually begins, although the effects of aging-and ultimately death-are not evident for many years.
I can think of various people I know who appear vibrant and alive on the outside but are in fact dying on the inside.
But we must examine this from an emotional and spiritual context. The things that tend to provide the strongest motivation in our lives are most often related to spiritual ideals and emotional passions. Without the framework of these essential elements to energize us, our lives are vulnerable to the lifeless existence of mundane routine. We may function effectively at some level and even appear to enjoy a fairly normal existence, but before long the lack of an adequate source of spiritual life and motivation leads to deterioration within. Like the freshly cut flower in the vase, we may display the lingering look of life even though we are already experiencing death.
Keep a mindful eye on those things that generate true life and motivation to your soul. Don’t settle for anything less than what is needed to produce a vibrant existence. Feed your soul well, nourish it fully, and protect the spiritual sources of life that we all need in order to prosper in life.
Strive to maintain the beauty of the blossom that is your life by protecting its life source, and your efforts will be rewarded by a renewed energy and motivation in life, without which you will become just another blooming idiot in life while you await the inevitable process of death and decay that is growing within. You deserve better!
