To be a bud or to be a BLOOM!

As I continue to grow in my ever anticipated yearning for life, I came across another quote that seems to sum everything up. I am paraphrasing, but simply said, "it is more painful to risk to be a bud than than the risk is to bloom." That got me thinking...when you see a bed of flowers just as they are emerging from the soil in spring, do we stop to think that the flowers are doing what they are intended to do? Do they wait until another flower pops its head or start to open? No, each flower is meant to bloom at a particular time, when it is right for that flower - that is its purpose. Have you ever tried to fence in a flower or shrub? Guess what happens? The foliage starts reaching for more and moving around obstacles put in their way makes the flowers choose another direction to grow. Like a detour sign on the highway. So many times, we try to fence ourselves in and try not to bloom because we don't want to be ahead of the other "flowers". But, that is not what we were meant to do. We are designed to bloom. Fear keeps us from many things - yet the flower knows no fear. If it knew a storm was coming that would potentially damage all that was beautiful about it, it would still bloom. It would not hole back into the ground where it would be safe and then grow again when the coast was clear. The more we are cautious and reserved, the less we live to our full potential. We have all seen those flowers that only part of it seems to grow the way it was supposed to and the then the rest of it just looks kind of odd, like it is not the way it is supposed to be. What usually happens is that those end up in the trash. We have to extended all of our petals, with the pistal (our heart)exposed ready to give it our all, without fear of what the other flowers are doing. All we can be is who we are, as God intended. So, I say, today, let's do our thing...and BLOOM!!!!!