🌿 Wisdom Wednesday: The Garden You're Growing

What if the most meaningful growth in your life is happening where no one else can see it?

In this week's Wisdom Wednesday, we explore the quiet beauty of becoming. Through the timeless wisdom of gardens, we'll reflect on the unseen roots of hope, courage, kindness, and faith that are shaping our lives beneath the surface. If you've ever wondered whether your small acts of love matter or questioned if you're making progress, this episode is a gentle reminder to trust the season you're in. Join me as we discover that the world celebrates what blooms—but the soul celebrates what takes root.

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Transcript

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Hey there, beautiful soul, and welcome back to Lotus and Mighty. I am Michelle, your host, and I am so absolutely excited that you are here today. Welcome back to our Wisdom Wednesday message. Whether you're driving to work, walking beneath the morning sky, maybe savoring that quiet cup of coffee, or folding another basket of laundry, or maybe even simply taking a precious moment to pause for yourself. I truly believe this conversation has found you exactly where you're meant to be. There is something deeply comforting about remembering that no matter what season of life we're moving through, we are never as alone as sometimes we feel. Every one of us is growing through something. Every one of us is carrying hopes, questions, dreams, and quiet challenges that others may not fully see. Yet somehow our paths continue to cross exactly the moments we need a gentle reminder that we are all beautifully connected. So today, thank you so much for inviting me into your day. My hope is that these next few moments leave your heart feeling a little lighter, your spirit a little stronger, and your soul gently connected to the quiet wisdom, hope, and peace that already lives within you. Last week we had a beautiful Wisdom Wednesday, that it was a gentle reminder to slow down and recognize the extraordinary beauty hidden within our ordinary life. Those beautiful little miracles. I was drawing on the inspiration from the beautiful Mother Teresa's reminder that not all of us can do great things, but we can all do small things with great love. And we discover that miracles are often created through everyday acts of compassion, generosity, forgiveness, and hope. So every smile, every prayer, every encouraging word, an act of kindness creates that ripple that reaches farther than you may ever know. And those miracles, they rarely arrive with fanfare. They quietly bloom in the hearts of those who choose gratitude, embrace their unique purpose, and open their eyes to abundance that has been there all along. So before we begin today, I'd love to invite you to pause with me. Take one slow deep breath in and gently let it out. Now take another slow deep breath in, breathing in peace, and gently releasing everything you've been carrying. Allow your shoulders to soften, unclench your jaw, and let your hands relax. If it feels more comfortable, place one hand gently on your chest, on your heart, and simply notice your breath. Feel that steady rhythm of your heartbeat, and allow yourself to become fully present in this moment. For these next few minutes, there's nothing to solve, nothing to fix, nothing to prove, and nowhere else you need to be. Simply allow yourself to arrive exactly as you are. Because sometimes the greatest gift we can give ourselves isn't finding another answer. It's creating enough stillness to hear the quiet wisdom that has been within us all along. Sometimes that gentle resting of our heart gives us those moments. I've been thinking about how often we celebrate what can be seen. We often celebrate those huge accomplishments, those milestones, the huge promotions. Maybe when our project is finished, we applaud those beautiful moments that seem to bloom effortlessly. We applaud the flowers, but we rarely notice the roots. Yet some of the most meaningful work happens in our lives when it is completely invisible. There are gardens throughout this world that no one has ever applauded. No one stops to admire them, no magazines feature their blossoms, and no awards are given to the quiet gardener who faithfully tends them day after day. And yet many of those unseen gardens become the most beautiful, breathtaking places here on earth. Not because they were easy to grow, but because they were nurtured. They were nurtured on a regular basis with extraordinary patience, unwavering hope, quiet resilience, and a love that simply refuses to give up. I think our lives sometimes are the same. Every morning, often without realizing it, we begin planting new seeds that no one else can see. We plant seeds of kindness in conversations no one else hears. We plant forgiveness when holding on to that hurt might feel easier. We plant encouragement into hearts that may never know how deeply they needed those words. We plant patience when we're exhausted, and courage when the path ahead feels uncertain. Trust when we don't yet have all of those answers, and maybe hope when our own hearts are still healing. Most of these moments will never receive applause. They'll never become social media highlights or achievements that others will celebrate. Yet these quiet moments are extraordinary choices, slowly shaping who we become. They strengthen our families, encourage strangers, and create a goodness that often extends far beyond what we will ever witness. The beautiful things that will ever grow are the ones the world never sees. That if we continue planting seeds of love, kindness, and hope, the harvest will come in its own time. And that has really been my journey and my hope with this podcast. And throughout these last few years of really working on Lotus and Mighty, planting those seeds of inspiration on a regular basis for others to see. Nature has never rushed a flower to bloom, and life doesn't ask us to force what is still quietly growing beneath the surface. Our role isn't to control the outcome, it's simply to keep planting with our kind words, our quiet sacrifices, our compassionate choices, and those moments we choose to love over fear, which all of these become another seed in that beautiful garden of our lives. And just a reminder that no act of genuine love is ever wasted. This week I've kind of found myself wondering how many of us are standing in the middle of a beautiful garden while possibly convincing ourselves that nothing is growing. It's that becoming stage. We are looking around, we see unfinished dreams, questions, kind of that waiting season, typical ordinary days, and they seem to all be lingering longer than we had maybe expected. We can't always see those blossoms. We begin believing that maybe nothing's happening at all. But just a reminder that the garden has never worked that way. The most extraordinary growth has always begun beneath the surface. That beautiful lotus flower grows long before in the depths of the mud and through the water before you can see that beautiful blossom flower on the top. And perhaps our lives are unfolding that same way. Can't always see that blue blossom and that bloom, but that doesn't mean something beautiful isn't taking root. Thinking back, there's times in the spring that I've planted different gardens and looking at that meaningful lesson in life. And you know that something beautiful is going to grow from it. You trust that something beautiful is going to grow. And you gently place those tiny little roots in that soil and cover them up, and you take care of them by watering them, and then you wait. And at first can feel a little sad or disappointing that they haven't grown quite yet. Your pot hasn't filled full. But morning after morning, the garden continues to look the same, and yet you go to that dark soil, that quiet earth, that stillness, and you know that and understand that something's growing there. Beneath the surface, hidden from our eyes, that life in that beautiful flower has grown or started. Those tiny roots are stretching deeper, they're strengthening, quiet forming. It's a foundation that's meant to shape the flower for the moment that it's growing to bloom. And that roots are simply what is needed to keep that flower growing. And often, sometimes those quiet seasons in our lives or in our hearts, we overlook our lives and think nothing's changing. Maybe we've been waiting for something, searching for clarity, looking for opportunities, breakthroughs, or a big sign that our efforts are working. But perhaps life is similar to that garden, and way more than we realize. Gardens aren't meant to bloom every day. Some seasons they're meant for planting, some are watering, some are pruning, and some are resting. And some of the most important seasons happen entirely beneath that surface, where those roots are taking place. I think that's especially true when we're carrying maybe a little extra at times. Maybe your mornings are beginning before the sunrise, before you finish that first cup of coffee. You're trying to juggle appointments, responsibilities, work, caregiving, all the beautiful schedules, and simply doing everything you can to hold everything together. Maybe you've become fluent in words you never imagined that would ever be part of your daily vocabulary. Maybe advocate, therapy, insurance, accommodations, specialists. Maybe your journey looks different. Different than you imagined. And perhaps you're caring for other things. Those invisible things that no one knows about. And from the outside, people may think it's just another ordinary Wednesday. But you know how much courage it has taken to show up today. And that courage matters. One of the things that I admire about gardens is that looking at the flowers, each one is beautifully unique. And they don't compare each other. Sunflowers bloom in July instead of in May. And those hydrangeas, they grow as they're meant to. And looking at the earth and all of those beautiful things, those living things unfold in their own unique rhythm. And together, they create something beautifully breathtaking. Yet, somewhere along the way, we have been convinced or convinced ourselves that our lives should just bloom on someone else's timeline. Maybe you've scrolled through different social medias and you've compared their curated moments and quietly wondered if you're falling behind. And comparing our beginning to someone's middle or our difficult chapter to someone's celebration, our invisible roots to someone else's blossoms. And reminder that nature would never ask a flower to bloom before its roots were ready. So why do we ask ourselves to do that? Several years ago, we were living in a different area, and I remember planting bamboo. I was so excited to plant that bamboo. And I remember that it was a very small bunch of bamboo that we had planted, but nothing was happening once we planted it. If you walk by it on a regular basis, we did around the back of the yard, I would notice that it almost seems like it stopped growing altogether. Yet beneath that surface, something absolutely extraordinary was taking place. That bamboo was building such an intricate root system that's strong enough to support the incredible height that it would reach one day. And then when the foundation, those root systems, were finally ready, growth seemed to happen, and it almost felt like it was overnight. But that miracle was never the sudden growth. That miracle was everything that happened while nobody was watching. Maybe today, maybe today you're measuring your life on what someone else has accomplished, their milestones, their blooms. But remember that life. And those strongest trees are never built during sunny days alone. Their strength begins underground long before anyone else notices them. The most beautiful gardens are not grown in perfect seasons. They are nurtured by souls that keep planting hope, trusting that every seed will bloom in its own beautiful, perfect time. So take a moment and let those words settle into your heart. Maybe that's the reminder your soul needed today. I'd love for you to hold on to this simple truth that just because you can't yet see those blooms doesn't mean something beautiful isn't already growing beneath the surface. Just a reminder that, you know, in the world that we live in, the fast paced, the social media, a lot of times the world celebrates those blooms. But yet we celebrate that finished product, the success story, the transformation. Everybody can see. But life quietly honors something different. It honors those roots. It honors every little moment of compassion, of kindness, of loving that became those roots stretching deeper into your beautiful garden that you're growing. Sometimes I think we've misunderstood what it means to truly flourish. We imagine flourishing as finally arriving at a place where schedules slow down, maybe those worries disappear, everything's falling into place. But what if flourishing has been never been about avoiding those storms? Gardens need rain. They need that uncomfortable times. Because those rain awakens that life that's hidden inside of every seed. Became beautiful because of that storms, because of the rain, and that nourishing sunshine. So depending what season you're in, try to live in the presence. Your kindness, your courage, your hope. Sometimes that very season we would never choose becomes the one that shaped us into the person that we are always capable of becoming. I know for myself, we've been through lots of different seasons throughout my whole life and just recently too. And some of those seasons have changed me and strengthened me and quietly growing a stronger heart within me. I'm still learning that lessons that growth rarely happens in dramatic ways. But most of the time, waiting, trusting, taking one faithful step after the other, and believing that something beautiful is unfolding. Your love will continue blooming in the hearts of people that you've trusted and touched. Our greatest garden we're ever growing isn't outside our window. It's within the lives that we nurture every single day. So every encouraging conversation we have within our home, every warm embrace, every patient response, every moment that we choose grace over criticism, every act of compassion becomes another seed that may continue blooming for years and years to come, even generations to come. And what an extraordinary privilege it is to leave the world a little more loving simply because we were in it. To not always chase that perfection, to not compare my garden or your garden to anybody else's, and to not rush the season that you're in. Simply keep planting love, keep watering hope, keep choosing kindness, and keep believing that even your smallest acts of compassion matter because they do. Not because everything was perfect, but because you kept showing up. Because you kept choosing hope one more time. Kindness when it was easier to withdraw, or forgiveness, or you trusted your journey. You placed peace in your heart and love. We spend so much of our lives waiting until that entire garden is blooming before believing that it's beautiful. Today is the day that we stop waiting. Today is the day that we choose to listen to ourselves with wonder. And we're realizing that we're our life is making a difference. Every word, every act of kindness, every moment of compassion, it's all planting seeds. It's all those seeds that we're planting today may bloom in someone's life for years to come. Before we finish today, I'd love to invite you into one more final moment of stillness. Keep choosing your love, keep planting your seeds, and keep trusting that those unseen work is happening. Because one day you'll look back and realize that life you were becoming wasn't built all at once. It was quietly growing beneath your feet. One loving choice, one courageous step, and one hopeful seed at a time. And that's the most beautiful miracles in life. I want you to take one more breath with me. One intentional breath of inhaling peace and exhaling and releasing what you've been carrying that no longer is yours to carry. And imagine yourself standing in that beautiful garden just as the sun begins to rise, and the morning air is cool against your skin, those tiny beautiful drops of dew are shimmering on every leaf, and that first golden rays of sunlight begin to dance across the flowers. You can hear those beautiful birds welcoming a brand new day. And around you feels like peaceful, still, and filled with quiet possibility. There's nowhere else you need to be. Simply allowing yourself to receive this moment. As you slowly wander along the garden path, you notice something beautiful. That not every flower is blooming yet. Some blossoms are fully open, some are reaching confidently towards the morning light, and others are emerging from that tiny green bud. Some haven't even broken the soil yet, and yet somehow the entire garden is absolutely breathtaking. It isn't beautiful because everything looks the same. It's beautiful because every flower is honoring its own season. They are each beautifully unique. They're growing in their own perfect rhythm and unfolding exactly as they're meant to be. And that's so true of all of us. Perhaps life hasn't been asking us to bloom all at once. And a reminder that we're not comparing our journeys to anybody else's. We're just reaching towards the light. And every quiet act of love that no one else sees is helping us reach towards that light. So before we say goodbye today, I'd love to begin something new here on our Wisdom Wednesdays. Each week will take a moment to gently slow down and listen to your own heart. And notice the quiet ways that you're growing. Last week was all about those everyday miracles. And this week is about reflecting on the garden that we're growing, and those quiet choices, those moments of courage that no one else has seen, but is helping to build that foundation, that root system before the blossoms. What is this season teaching you? Where have you noticed unexpected beauty in ordinary moments? What are you ready to release and make space for something new? What seeds of kindness, hope, and encouragement are you going to intentionally plant this week? I'd love to invite you again to place one hand gently over your heart and take one slow intentional breath in. Allow these words to settle gently into your soul. Honor what is growing beneath the surface. Release the pressure to bloom before your time, and welcome grace where perfection once lived. Choose gratitude in those small victories and believe in love. Trust that every seed planted is meant to bloom exactly as it is supposed to, on its own unique path. Remember that the greatest garden you'll ever grow isn't measured by productivity, success, or recognition. It's measured by the love that you leave behind. So wherever you find yourself today, remember the world celebrates what blooms, but our souls celebrate what takes root. Thank you so much for spending these moments with me today. If this episode brought a little more peace to your heart, would you please consider sharing it with someone who needs this reminder? You never know how one conversation, one encouraging word, or one small act of kindness can become the very seed that helps another soul begin to bloom. So until next week, Wednesday, may you trust the unseen roots. May you welcome every season with hope. Celebrate every tiny blossom. And may you never forget that your life is growing into something far more beautiful than you can see today. So until next time, beautiful soul, choose hope, choose kindness, trust your journey, and keep becoming the beautiful soul you were always meant to be. As always, be brave, be strong, be kind to everybody, and be mighty. Until next time, take gentle care of yourself because this world needs a beautiful garden that only you can grow. Love you.