We all see things about ourselves,
our relationships, and our world that we want to change. Often, this
desire leads us to take action toward inner work that we need to do or
toward some external goal. Sometimes, without any big announcement or
momentous shift, we wake up to find that change has happened, seemingly
without us. This can feel like a miracle as we suddenly see that our
self-esteem really does seem to be intact, or our partner actually is
helping out around the house more. We may even wonder whether all of our
hard work had anything to do with it, or if it just happened by way of
grace.
As humans, sometimes we have relatively short attention spans, and we
can easily lose track of time. We may worry about a seedling in a pot
with our constant attention and watering for several weeks only to find
ourselves enjoying the blooms it offers and wondering when that
happened, and how we didn't notice it. Nature, on the other hand, has
infinite patience and stays with a thing all the way through its life.
This doesn't mean that our efforts play no part in the miracle of
change--they do. It's just that they are one small part of the picture
that finally results in the flowering of a plant, the shifting of a
relationship, the softening of our hearts.
The same laws that govern the growth of plants oversee our own internal
and external changes. We observe, consider, work, and wonder, tilling
the soil of our lives, planting seeds, and tending them. Sometimes the
hard part is knowing when to stop and let go, handing it over to the
universe. Usually this happens by way of distraction or disruption, our
attention being called away to other more pressing concerns. And it is
often at these times, when we are not looking, in the silence of
nature's embrace, that the miracle of change happens.(Daily OM)