Tea pots and Roses

   I met with a good friend today as we do every Monday for a shared 'mentoring'. We have been doing this for nearly 3 months now as a prompt to encourage each other through the good times and the challenges. Each of us makes a list of 'to do's' for the following week along with intentions and goals. We then countersign each other's list and bear witness to the successes and struggles along the way. We have both encountered the flow of ease with some ideas and projects and the 'going against the tide' determination required in other instances. It is good to have someone alongside who encourages and consoles.
   We are both healers and so see the world from a spiritual vantage point that may seem rather odd to those not of this mindset. We are extremely good at recognising patterns in life and gaining great insights or 'messages' from the mundane. Today, thinking that she had finished her tea, my friend was preparing to leave but abstractly lifted the lid of the tea pot only to find it was completely full. Having already drunk two cups of tea this was a complete surprise! We laughed at how we can be deceived by our beliefs and perceptions and how easy it is to fall into the pessimistic trap that the glass, or in this case pot, must be empty.
   Arriving home, as I approached my front door, I saw a beautiful rose bud in the garden. I am certain it was not there before. Once again I was being shown that what we think is not always the true reality. We are usually too busy and distracted to notice the subtleties that abound in our lives and often therefore miss the opportunities and beauty in life. In this case I also felt that I had been shown that even under very adverse conditions beautiful things happen and it is possible to blossom and bloom in situations that seem bleak and unforgiving. Despite the freezing cold temperature this rose had produced a fabulous bud which looked ready to blossom forth. In doing so it had also warmed my heart and given me unexpected hope and optimism.
   All in all I had a good lesson about nature (the rose) and nurture (the tea pot). When we nurture our dreams and ourselves, then life will produce the where with all to achieve since nature is gloriously abundant no matter what we believe the environment appears to offer.