Lessons from Nature: Life Giver

 

The season of new life has begun; we see freshness all around us. The earth seems to be covered with a green carpet, the huge trees that were like skeletons during the autumn appears to have dressed in various shades of green. The rivers gush down noisily broadening exiting routs and at the same time discovering new ones. Fish in the deep seas seem to be thriving, as fishermen are prohibited from fishing. As evening comes frogs begin their choir practices. The peacocks are at their best showing off their dance moves. Chickens and other flightless birds dig into the soft soil for some fresh juicy treat. The purpose of sighting so many examples is just to say that this is a season enjoyed by most living things.

There are a few exceptions that do not like rainy season, may be because they feel sick, due to the dampness of the place. Some house wives may complain about clothes not drying, a hardworking husband may get annoyed because he gets wet despite of wearing the raincoat, or a grumpy old grandpa and grandma may get irritated since they are not able to go out for the regular patrolling of their ancestral property. But, like it or not, rain brings new life, it brings joy, happiness and smiles to many. Rain has many lessons to teach us, it’s just that we need to be observant and have an open mind.

One morning as I was wandering around I could feel the cool rainy breeze. It was a refreshing feeling because it was green all around me, the wetness of the soil and the tiny rain drops on the grass, made the place look like sprinkled with pearls. If we have our eyes open, we will be able to see so many new plants and tiny creatures being born. There are various little plants which seem to sprout from nowhere. There are snails and bugs which were not at all around before the rain. As I continued observing the beauty around me I was startled. This gave me a renewed hope to live life. As I began reflecting it dawned upon me that rain is so selfless. It pours down generously, and thus brings forth life. I was also reminded of times when I had been generous and realized that there is more happiness in giving, and looking at the happiness on the face of others.

We can either learn from the rain to be generous or curse it saying that it’s a gloomy day. This purely depends on our mentality. The choice is ours we can bury ourselves under the blanket and say it’s a useless day or go out dance in the rain, enjoy the freshness it offers. Let’s be like the rain that brings new life and freshness. If giving a biscuit to a roadside dog, or watering a plant gives us happiness imagine how much happier we will be by helping the suffering humanity in our own little way.

Moral: There is lot of happiness in giving and it doubles up when you know that you are the reason for someone else’s happiness.

 

Lessons from Nature: Exposure

 

            Nature never fails to impress us. When I say nature I don’t only refer only to hills and valleys, rivers and seas but also the simple plants and animals growing abound us. I love creative gardening and planting, crotons are my all-time favorite and I have many reasons for this.  Croton is an evergreen plant, it doesn’t need much maintenance and has glossy leaves that come in varied attractive shapes, sizes and colour. The plant is hardy and can withstand difficult weather conditions. It can be easily propagated from stem cutting. The plant also serves as a strong fencing plant protecting delicate plants from direct wind and small pets. Crotons do not have flowers like other plants but will surely catch your attention because of their brightly coloured leaves. The leaf of a croton may occur solid but may also have combination of green, yellow, red, orange, pink, purple or brown.

            So the question here is, What can we learn from this plant? Ever since I have known about plants I have seen crotons growing in my vicinity. Recently while I was watching the crotons growing in the garden I saw a notable variance between a few crotons grown from the stems of the same mother plant. I got curious, I wanted to know why are some plants brighter and more attractive than the others. There were crotons which had bright, fresh, glossy yellowish leaves with reddish-orange veins. While there were others a little further which looked fresh and healthy but were green and pale yellow. After a little study and inquiring I realized that the secret of the brightly colured leaves was the exposure to the sun.

            In our lives too we get many opportunities to shine brightly, but only when we expose ourselves to new prospects and chances will we shine brightly. The more we burn in the heat and light of the day, the brighter and more vibrant will we become. We may survive and have a healthy life but we will not be able to make a difference or shine brightly if we don’t make the best out of the opportunities that come our way.

Moral: Expose yourself to new things and that will change your life and make it vibrant, bright and joyful.