Some things just take a little bit longer for some people than others. Stick with me for a little bit. This post eventually connects to running but first we start with gardening.
Back in early December a box arrived from work. Knowing it has been such a strange and confusing year, and we all needed a bit of peace, my boss sent us all amaryllis serenity bulbs. I glanced at the directions, plopped the pot in a window and sprinkled a bit of water on it. The pamphlet said growth should occur in 2-8 weeks. If I was patient, and took care not to overwater, I should have a Christmas bloom.
Christmas came and went. The pot sat near the window and I watered it under the moss every so often. Nothing happened. I removed the moss. Stopped watering. Still no activity. I honestly forgot about the bulb. Only when picking up holiday decorations did I stare at the pot and think maybe I should just toss it out. Instead, I moved it to another window. Mid-February on a staff Zoom call I noticed the bright blooms behind a few other colleagues. I still had a pot of dirt. What was I doing wrong? I texted a photo to my boss and, in that photo, she saw a little bit of green and said to be patient.
We went about our daily activities. Every so often if a kid left a glass of water half full on the table, would I empty it onto the bulb. I lost the directions which came in the box so had no concept of what else to do to care for the pot of dirt. And, again, forgot about the bulb. One day my husband looking across the room said, “hey there’s something coming up.” The kids and I ran over to the window and it was just the plant tag, no sprouts.
The days were getting longer and warmer, and the pot of dirt still sat.
But then, one day toward the end of March, I spied a tiny bit of green. Could it be? No way. Yes, there it was. The smallest tiny shoot starting to poke up through the middle of the bulb. I yelled for the kids, they came running from their distance learning classes and we admired the glimpse of green. Then we went back to what we were all doing.
The bulb had been steadily growing in the background of our lives, yet we didn’t realize it. Even without the best of care, it still grew. There were moments of excitement. Like the false alarm my husband raised and then finally the first tip of green we saw. And now it has gone back to normal. More shoots have pushed up and grown taller, however we haven’t celebrated those as much as that first one.
I can’t help but make connections to our lives with the experience we’ve had with the bulb. When we see someone achieve a goal, say crossing a finish line, we don’t see all the work that went in behind the scenes. There are so many stops and starts along the way that might not be seen. Stuff was happening, below the surface, where it wasn’t immediately visible to anyone causally observing.
It can be so hard to try not to compare your progress toward goals with what you see others doing. That little blub has helped me keep in perspective that sometimes things might just take a little bit longer for me than for others. And, when we see someone achieve a goal, most of the time we do not see everything that went on behind the scenes to make that achievement possible.
Finally, I hope to start celebrating the things that seem routine now, like the continued (but still slow) growth we’ve seen with our bulb. We were so excited for the first shoot of green, but the ones coming after haven’t been as celebrated. I feel this way now with my running. Yes, I’ve crossed multiple finish lines, but that doesn’t diminish the accomplishment even if now its not my first time doing it. So, today, on my five year Runner Chick-versery I’m going to celebrate and keep moving toward what I hope is a beautiful bloom, whenever that chooses to happen!
