I often find it jarring in the most refreshing way when the first flowers bloom in the Spring. It feels miraculous and surprising and hopeful. I admire the tenacity of the crocus poking through the snow and ice, but I am most partial to the late bloomers. At the tulip festival in May my favorite variety is called the “Double Late” bloom. I feel a sense of kinship with late bloomers of all sorts as I identify as one myself.
As humans it is easy to judge our progress or perceived lack of progress as we trudge through life. We often label ourselves as NOT___ enough or TOO________. Or my all time favorite, “by this time in my life I SHOULD be______. “ There can be so much fear, shame or anxiety that we carry related to not being where we think we should be or “need” to be or even want to be at any given time.
Do the flowers who are yet to bloom or who are “late to the game” have these emotions? Do they beat themselves up for not being more robust or productive with their blooms? I think not. What if we looked to nature as our guide to learn to trust the process and be in the moment just as it is?
Nature does not hurry yet everything is accomplished writes the Chinese philosopher and poet Lao Tzu. All will unfold as it needs to and perhaps some things will not unfold in the ways that we think they should. I take solace in my yoga practice when I find myself spinning off into comparison brain or deciding I am not ____ enough. I remember one of my first yoga teachers , more than 25 years ago who said “nothing good comes from forcing”. When she said these words, I felt they were just for me and I remember immediately softening my breath and my body responded by letting go of trying to force myself into a pose that wasn’t working for me at the time and a sense of ease filled me completely. Forcing our bodies into yoga poses or other movements/activities that are not going to serve us well or contribute to our growth , or worse yet may actually harm us makes no sense. And yet we often do this in the name of Progress.
I have learned over many years the power of allowing my body to unfold in yoga into her own unique shape, recognizing that comparing my practice to someone else’s practice or to a practice my body enjoyed at a different time in my life, ends up with someone being “better” and someone being “worse” and no one walks away feeling very good about themselves.
I am a work in progress not a work in perfection. Just as I cannot rush the blossoms by prying open the petals, I give myself the grace and space to unfurl and unfold, sometimes quickly but more often slowly and most importantly with compassion towards myself.
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