I'm busy this week sending out my book to newspapers, magazines and churches for reviews and for possible sponsorship. I'm excited about the possibilities but I'm also a little bit scared of getting rejected or told my work is not up to par or some sort of negative feedback. But then I happened onto this picture and it inspired me to think of myself as fearless, brave and resilient like I was when I was a little girl. I also remembered this poem I wrote once in a writing class. When I was a little girl I was like the girl on the tire swing - full of energy and with a fearless desire to see and do everything I could, even the scary things. That little girl or the spirit of her still resides deep inside me - so she is busy helping me mail out my books. Meanwhile I have a wish for you.
Today I wish that you remember yourself as a child, especially those times when you were fearless and brave. We all have that same fearlessness within us - all we have to do is remember it and take some risk we have been avoiding. Even if you get a rejection or don't win or get what you were after in this fearless act, you will gain self confidence and the next time you risk something, it will be a lot less scary. As one of the great philosophers, Nietzsche, once said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." So go out and do something you are just a little bit afraid to do - don't risk your life, of course, but do something that takes some bravery, some willingness to fail or be rejected and I'll bet you'll come out stronger, in fact, if you don't feel stronger, call me and I'll help you find that within your heart because, I know it's there - you just have to learn how to access it. Okay here's my poem:
Wounded Flowers
Strolling along a wide boulevard, a young family
enjoys the dappled sunlight streaming through
the branches of magnificent old magnolia trees
There are stately mansions in the plantation style along the
street
and a black wrought iron fence protects the manicured lawns
and flower beds of what the little girl's daddy calls, "Rich people’s houses"
Mama pushes the baby stroller while daddy tells her stories
and
makes her laugh. He
leans in to kiss her but she flaps her hands at him
and says, “Stop that, I told you no I don’t like that in public” “Oh come on
Sugar, you know you like it” Daddy says and smiles the smile
that
always gets him what he wants
The little girl a mere four and a half, is skipping along feeling like a princess
in her
lovely yellow dotted Swiss sundress with the big white bow in the back
Every now and then she looks down and admires the shine of her new black
patten leather
Sunday shoes. She stops now and then to check out a ladybug
or to pick a
dandelion
Her brother, two years older runs ahead but keeps dashing
back to tell them what he has seen. He tells his sister to be
careful, he saw a bulldog behind one of those fences just
now
and reminds her that she better not be picking any
flowers from inside the fence," cause mama said"
Suddenly she spies a fallen magnolia blossom and picks it up
and
shows it to her mother who tells her to be very careful,
that
they are very fragile and will turn black if you touch the
petals.
“Oh, I will be careful, Mama”, she says and cradles the
branch with
the blossom in the crook of her arm like a baby. When she
gets home she puts the beautiful blossom in a tall vase and
makes sure
no one touches its delicate, velvety petals.
Years later, when the little girl becomes a woman she
wonders why
some people, like the magnolia are so beautiful, and yet so fragile and
easily wounded, while others, like the sunflower are so resilient. She only
hopes that she is like the sunflower and not like her mother a beautiful
but
wounded flower turning dark and wilted from the touch of those she loves
Blessings, Lorraine
Lorraine is an author, speaker and Rainmaker whose book Second
Act Soul Calls – Your Guide for the Re-Invention of Your Life at Midlife and
Beyond with Passion, Purpose and Possibilities is available now online
at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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