May Flowers

WARNING: I’m about to expand on a personal growth analogy as old as time. You know the one, seeds planted, patience, growth, then blossoming? ?? But today is May 1st (also known as May Day), a date recognized in many countries as the beginning of summer and halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. May is also all about flowers. “April showers bring May flowers.” Mother’s Day brunches + flowers. Oh, and allergies ?? So, it’s only fitting we spend a few minutes this morning thinking about our own paths to blooming.?

When we think about the plants that flower in April and May, it’s really quite impressive. To share a short personal story, the house my family and I live in, we purchased in the middle of winter.?We live in a climate that is very cold in the winter (the average low is 16F or ~negative 19C) and during these months, everything is brown, bare, and empty. When we were getting ready to move into our home, we did a walk-through of the home in April, and it was incredible how much things changed around the yard between that walk-through and when we moved in the very next month. Between the time we first entered the house and ultimately made an offer to the time we moved in May, the yard completely transformed. Areas we had planned to landscape, planters we intended to sow seeds in, and the lawn that was rough looking all magically came to life! Little green sprouts emerged everywhere, and green buds rapidly began to fill areas previous covered in brown dead-looking vegetation. Then a few weeks later, flowers emerged and beauty filled our newly acquired space. Several years later, we now know that each month from April through October, flowers will come in vibrant colors, sizes, shapes, and as one loses its pedals, another will gain them (props to the previous owners for their well-planned planting).

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We are all surviving our own version of that tough winter right now. Maybe it’s the economy that’s making you feel challenged, or maybe it’s a season professionally of growth, challenge, and stretching. There are also personal challenges in health, relationships, family, friends, and more. Whatever the challenge, it’s May 1st and the flowers are coming! A leader I worked for once told me something I’ll never forget. He said, “people normally quit, just before they realize their goal.” What if those green sprouts decided to give up right before popping above the soil’s surface? Or that green bud decided to mail it in right before it sprung open with beauty and color? Nature doesn’t know how to give up or quite just because things are hard, and we’re natural creatures, despite all the amazing information and intellectual content we read, listen to, or watch. We’re not quitters and May flowers are a reminder of that ??

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A short quote from German poet Heinrich Heine:

Sweet May hath come to love us,

Flowers, trees, their blossoms don;

And through the blue heavens above us

The very clouds move on.

Have a great May everyone ???