Want to

I took two weeks off of work and so used my last few moments on Friday to tie up loose ends, answer final emails and see what around me might fall in to ruin if I left it unattended for two weeks time. The plant on my desk HAD to come home with me or surely it would be dead by the time I returned.

The plant was securely placed in the back seat of the car then, due to the joy of being temporarily set free from the rigors of the job, I promptly forgot about it. For three days! In a hot car. Talk about unintentionally fast-tracking it towards what I had feared might happen if left in the comfort of an air conditioned office! Needless to say, once discovered, it got a rehydrating bath and repotting topped off by a craft cocktail of super nutrients and a heart felt apology. It bounced back within the hour.

Envision a hardy green weed growing up through a crack in the asphalt. It is usually in a place not shaded, not watered or otherwise cared for, yet up it comes. From beneath the slab that was poured over the surface of bare ground extinguishing any micro organisms that were there before. No oxygen. No hydration. No sunlight. Miraculously, against all odds, life found a way to spring up through a crack. The seed formed a root then grew to the surface due to genetic disposition, shall we say, not because it wanted to but because it was programmed to.

So, when we have experienced a metaphorically similar situation in life we, unlike a seed or a plant, have a choice to make. Will I lay down and be covered over by circumstances or will I grow? Will I be buried by this or will I rise again? We have to want to.

“Want to” is different than being genetically predisposed to. Our resurrection from a life-draining experience is most often dependent upon us, along with the help of healthy friendships and good people in our lives.

We have to want to.