‘Orange’ – You Ready to Start?

Nature can teach you a lot of lessons, wouldn’t you agree? You may or may not remember couple of weeks ago, where I spoke about the meaning behind flowers blooming (read?here?if not!). And this week is rather similar, because I discovered a new life lesson whilst picking an orange.

No, I promise this isn’t a late April Fool’s joke!

Let Me Tell You a Story

You see, just over a week ago my mum and I were walking down a path whilst we were in Spain. I couldn’t help but notice there were oranges everywhere, falling onto the ground. They were huge, lovely looking Spanish oranges, yet many ended up being squashed or starting to rot. Thankfully, I managed to catch one in time – and it got me thinking.

I like to look for the meaning in things. People are always asking me, ‘Cheryl, where do you get these stories from?’. The answer to that is I’ve been around for a long time lol, and I’ve seen and done a lot of things!!

And actually, I think it’s great to question the meaning of things in life, and even life itself. Asking ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘What’s the purpose of this?’ – even if you don’t know the answer yet.

Going back to the oranges, I realised that they serve as a great example for finding the right time to do things. What do I mean by this?

The Time for Personal Development

In life, there are many things you’ll want to do and achieve. And often it’s about knowing the best time for these. There’s a quote:

“Everything on earth has its own time and its own season.”

I had to Google it and apparently it’s from the Bible, Ecclesiastes. Seems like they knew a thing or two in ‘the old days’.

Take me for example, around 20 years ago, I wasn’t in the right mindset to be doing half the things I do now. I was depressed, drinking every night, and working at a job I hated. Now I do public speaking, coaching, and even dancing on stage!!

If you push yourself to do something before you’re truly ready, you won’t be able to do it at your fullest – like an orange that has been picked too soon and is sour.

On the other hand, you could also end up waiting too long. If you never get round to doing what it is you want to do and achieving that goal, you may end up on your deathbed with many regrets. Think of an orange not being picked at the perfect time and instead being over ripe, falling off the tree and being left to rot.

Being the Ripest Orange

The truth is that it all depends on you. Think about where you are now, and what it is you want. What’s in the way of that? And what steps do you need to take to achieve it?

If it’s public speaking for example, then you probably shouldn’t hop straight onto the stage immediately – you need to practice, prepare, get used to speaking. But at the same time, what’s stopping you from starting to train now?

The first step can often be the hardest.

Think of the oranges, they don’t pop up one day and become ready to pick the next. There are a number of steps before they’ve grown to be the ripest.

But once they do, that’s when they hold their greatest potential – whether it’s being shipped to a supermarket, made into juice or sweet treats.

And that’s just an orange. You are not an orange (just thought I’d point that out). You are a human being with all the potentiality in the universe. A human being who can literally be and do whatever you want, once you have decided what that is.

No One’s Goal But Yours

The final thing to remember, is to be sure it’s YOUR goal. That it’s what YOU want, and it doesn’t involve you trying to be anyone else or trying to impress anyone else.

As funny as this may sound, the oranges are just being oranges, they aren’t trying to grow into any other fruit. It reminds me of a quote we used to say – you can be the ripest, juiciest orange, and yet there will still always be someone who prefers lemons, which is perfectly fine.

So, my challenge to you is to know what it is that you want to do, and just do it. Don’t constantly wait for a better moment, just know that you’re ready to at least start, and that life is too short to hold yourself back out of fear. Start your journey of personal development, write that book, or practice for that speech.

And if that sounds like something you would be interested in, why not start your journey with us by joining our next Strictly Come Speaking event? Get your free ticket by clicking?here!

Cheryl xx

PS – If you liked this newsletter and want to read more surrounding female empowerment, you can find last week’s blog here: ‘It’s Shocking, Isn’t It?‘

“I’m on a global mission to help 10 million disheartened souls, who are at a crossroads, to STOP asking why me? And START saying why not me!”