…the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener, is made the banian of the forest, yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men.
~ Emerson

Our good is built inside the bad. Sometimes the 'falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener' yield the treasure. (Show me your shortcomings, and I'll show you where your strengths are born ;-) )

The thing that crowds against us inevitably forces our growth in a new direction. What would have seemed previously impossible becomes the only course to take.

What you might think could be your reason for not 'succeeding' may contain the exact ingredient needed for you to become wholly you.

I'm not gonna name names here.

I'm betting you can think of people you either know or have read about (or it might be your very own story) who had things that would seem to prevent them from their good. Instead, as the years played out, the very thing that would seem to be bad was reckoned to be what landed them in the garden of good.

Whatever seeming obstruction that life might hand out, it's expedient to remember Emerson's words…

…the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener, is made the banian of the forest, yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men.

I love this last reassurance from Emerson:

This is alive and well in nature. Where one thing is reduced, another portion is enlarged—always seeking balance.

Nature teaches us that what may appear as falling or failing is, instead, an opening for phenomenal growth.

Here's to falling walls and outrageous neglect!

Flowers from a Friend
8 x 10, oil on museum quality panel

P.S. Somehow, when I write, I always feel gratitude for you. For your attention, for you reading my stuff, for just being here. It means a lot! You can receive my letters straight to your inbox by subscribing here. (My letters are free, of course!)