Finding Our True Color

My cyclamen bloomed a lovely fuchsia pink. But I bought it with the understanding that it would produce the dark eggplant purple I love. What a disappointing surprise as the blossoms opened and showed off their deep pink.

But a few days later, the blooms started changing. With time, the cyclamen sported the purple I wanted. I just had to wait for the desired result while the plant morphed through its photosynthetic process.

The correct color was there all along, hidden behind the curtains of time. Only the passage of days would bring out the true richness I longed for.

Isn’t that so like life?

We start a project, write a story, or journal about a dream. Then the project becomes a tree house. The story evolves into a novel. The dream wraps around a destiny.

We share coffee with a friend which eventually grows a relationship that adds color and joy to our lives. We say ‘Yes’ to Jesus and end up living a life abundant with more grace giftings that we ever thought possible. We change a career path and find another part of our personality that entwines with who we really are.

One circumstance morphs into another, delighting us with the spontaneity of change — surprising us with the richness of the final result. Living within the surprises of life adds more fun than carefully structured days that grow old and boring in their regularity.

Perhaps we could also give permission for such change in others. The opportunity for them to morph into a richer version of themselves — in time.

Wouldn’t that attitude change how we relate to our children when they are stuck in the struggles of adolescence and teenage angst? “Grow up!” we want to scream. But that is exactly what they are doing.

What if we give permission for change to those in authority over us? To the systems of our society stuck in transitional puzzles. It takes time for people and systems to learn how to change. It takes daily grace to morph into the people and the country we long to be. It takes an abundant supply of patience to let the systems work themselves out.

What if we could live within the joy of the surprise and truly learn that traditional expectations or opinionated statements do not always bring the best results? What if we could move into the next seasons of life and accept the things we cannot change?

We want others to give us grace, yet we are not always willing to extend the same to those who are different than our tribe — those we do not truly know.

If we could practice patience and apply grace to ourselves and others, within our world and its destinies — perhaps we could live better lives. And offer a better life to those who struggle. The blatant ugliness recorded on social media and within some news networks proves nothing except that we all need to grow up.

Our freedom to express opinions is a gift. But why use that freedom to destroy another soul?

Can we grow to become our true color? To exhibit the creative beauty God gave us? Can we give each other the necessary time to morph into our best selves?

No matter how life changes us and no matter what challenges we face in the next months, surely we can do life with integrity and the wisdom to allow internal growth. We can bloom into our personal inner texture and brighten our little corner of the globe.

We CAN change into who we should really be. We CAN find our true color and use it for good. Would that not be a worthy goal?

©2024 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved

Image: Yvinne / Pixabay

Finish your summer reading with a novella. The Year of my Redemption is available on Amazon.