Mini Mindset Tip: When Reality Doesn’t Match Your Timeline—How the Spring Equinox Teaches Us to Set Intentions, Adapt, and Trust the Timing of Growth

There’s a part of me, the Texas girl, that still expects to see bluebonnets in March. I moved to the Midwest for college in 1992. I’ve spent 33 years in cold climates and only 17 with bluebonnets. And yet, I’m still disappointed every March.

My expectations don’t match my reality, and that makes me unhappy.

March in Southern Ontario is not beautiful. The days get longer and less gray, but there are no flowers, at least for a while.

Last year was an exception. It was so warm that I planted my front planters on March 6, a full month before my normal time. But in general, I plant them the last few days of March or the first week of April.

This year, I set aside March 18 to buy flowers and freshen up my planters. When I got back from my trip, they were looking particularly bad. Even though I knew this wasn’t the week to do it, somehow it seemed reasonable.

I went to my favorite nursery, and Hannah had nothing. Not a single annual. "We wait until the nights are consistently above 0°C," she told me.

Perfectly reasonable. And completely against my expectations.

I tried another nursery. They had plants, but they were stressed—underwatered, struggling. Not worth my limited gardening dollars. A third nursery told me flat-out, "It’s way too early for that."

That settled it. My expectations didn’t match reality. And I was sulky about it.

The Spring Equinox and the Power of Timing

The Spring Equinox is a moment of balance—equal day and night—before inevitable growth. It’s a reminder that nature doesn’t rush, but it always arrives.

If there’s one thing I know about manifestation, it’s that setting clear intentions while releasing attachment to the howand when is key. The Equinox invites us to trust the process: to plant our desires like seeds, tend them with care, and then let go, knowing that they will bloom in their own time. Abundance is always on its way, even if it doesn’t arrive exactly when or how we expected.

Mini Mindset Tip: Adjusting Expectations with Grace

If you find yourself frustrated when reality doesn’t match your expectations, try this:

• Pause and notice: Are you upset because your expectations don’t match reality? Simply recognizing this can be powerful.
• Reality check: What’s truly possible given your current circumstances? What’s within your control, and what isn’t?
• Adjust with curiosity: How can you work with reality instead of against it? Is there another path forward that still honors your desires?
• Practice seasonal patience: Just like the Equinox reminds us that balance is part of growth, remind yourself that things unfold in their own time.
• Celebrate flexibility: Letting go of rigid expectations doesn’t mean giving up—it means making space for something even better.

From Expectation to Action

I must admit that my expectations for bluebonnets in March have triggered my latest gardening project: my boulevard, as it’s called in Southern Ontario. That little strip of land between the sidewalk and the street that belongs to the city but is maintained by the homeowner.

I found seeds for a lupine native to this area: Sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis subsp. perennis). It’s not a bluebonnet, but it’s as close as I’ll get while staying true to my local ecosystem.

I applied for a boulevard garden through a local charity, Blooming Boulevards. They help with the permit, provide expertise, and give you 50 plants. But 50 plants isn’t nearly enough. The whole boulevard should be underplanted with sedges and grasses, using matrix planting. I’m starting seeds for this project now, hoping they’ll be strong enough to plant in early summer.

And maybe next year I’ll have bluebonnets, of a sort.

In May.