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Welcome to Stuff I Learned Yesterday. My name is Darrell Darnell, I am allergic to penicillin, and I believe that if you aren’t learning, you aren’t living. In today’s episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday I share a lesson I learned from something I bought on clearance.
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What I Learned Yesterday:
When I started this podcast nearly 2 months ago I never would have dreamed that I’d be doing any episodes about plants or gardening, but here I am doing my THIRD episode about that very topic. That does not mean that I now enjoy gardening or yard work. That has not changed and I do not see it changing anytime soon. However, I am committed to making sure my flower beds thrive this season and I’m learning stuff through that process. Brace yourself. I see many more garden related episodes in your future!
For today’s episode, I want to take you back to that Friday about 3 weeks ago when my wife and I purchased the plants at our local garden center. My wife had been out running errands earlier that morning so we decided to meet at the store. I arrived a few minutes before she did so I took that time to look around and see if anything caught my eye.
Since we had cleaned out nearly everything from the beds, we were looking for some good perennials, that is, plants that come back every year, to establish the foundation of our beds. Then, around those perennials we would put some annuals that were bright and colorful, understanding that we’d have to replace those plants next year. We were also considering getting a small evergreen or two to fill in some space.
I perused the perennials and found a few that I liked, and then made my way to the area of the evergreens. As I approached the evergreens I noticed a few carts full of various plants that looked pretty bad. As I got closer I noticed that the plants were labeled as clearance and each plant was on sale for $3.
Parked right between to the clearance cart and the evergreens was another cart with some other flowers on it. Each of those flowers had dead spots, broken leaves, and wilted flowers, or no buds at all. They looked like they were supposed to be on clearance too, but it wasn’t clear. One of the other customers brought over an employee, and the employee confirmed that all of the plants on those carts were indeed on clearance for $3.
They were definitely not the best looking plants in the store, and it was clear to see that they’d once looked better, however, it was also clear to see that these plants had within them a beauty waiting to emerge. By this time Kari had arrived and we quickly picked out two of them and rejoiced at the great bargain we’d just scored.
As I mentioned in episode 31, we made sure to plant them in good soil where they would receive the right amount of light and the room they needed to grow. It took them almost no time at all to show significant signs of growth. After just a couple of days, new clusters of buds began to emerge. Then a couple of days later, those buds bloomed. More buds emerged and they soon bloomed. The buds weren’t the only changes. The leaves that were once droopy, perked up and showed signs of strength.
Before I sat down at the computer to prepare for this episode, I asked my daughter if she’d go outside and look at the flowers with me. I took her over to the two clearance flowers and asked her what she saw. She said, “they’re pretty.” After we talked about the flowers a bit more, she described them healthy, thriving, and strong looking. She also said that they still had some spots that looked rough.
Here’s what I learned. Those plants are just like some of us…maybe you. They were cast aside and given a label that said they were of reduced value. No, they weren’t reduced in value. Sure, by some definitions they were, but by other definitions, they were actually a greater value.
They were not only cast aside and devalued, they were scarred, droopy, haggard, and rough. But in spite of their outward appearance, they still possessed beauty. It’s in their DNA. All they needed was for someone to give them the resources to thrive. They needed water, healthy soil, and sunlight. Just like the flowers, sometime we need a change of environment in order to thrive.
We all possess value. You may be worn, haggard, tattered, and downcast. You may see someone around you that demonstrates those characteristics. As long as there is life in you you possess the DNA within you to flourish. Don’t let someone else’s label define who you are.
I don’t know if all of the rough parts of these plants will ever go away. Frankly, I hope they don’t. I want to always look at those two plants and see their beauty. I want to be reminded of how far they’ve come and how I helped bring them back to life. Because in that moment of recollection, I’ll be reminded of the great life lesson that is found there.
I’m Darrell Darnell and this has been stuff I learned yesterday.
If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Stuff I Learned Yesterday, I would be grateful if you’d leave a review in iTunes.
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