The Gift I Never Learned

💛 Vulnerability Alert

Before we finish our coffee together today, I want to tell you a story about my sister.

For as long as I can remember, I've admired orchids.

I've also killed every flippin' one I've ever owned.

For nearly thirty years, whenever someone gave me an orchid, I'd admire it for a few days...

...and then I'd quietly take it to my sister.

Not because I didn't love it.

Because I already knew how the story would end if it stayed with me.

    I'd water it.

        I'd move it to the perfect window.

            I'd follow every instruction she gave me.

                I'd even talk to it.

The leaves stayed green.

        The plant survived.

            But it never bloomed again.

Then my sister would take that very same orchid home.

A few months later...

It would be covered in blooms.

Every. Single. Time.

It amazed me.

Especially because I have a green thumb.

My vegetable garden thrives.

Our orchard blesses us every year.

The flowers around my office seem perfectly happy.

But orchids?

Not a chance.

For years I thought it was a mystery.

Lately, I've realized it was a lesson.

Some gifts simply weren't meant to be mine.

And that's okay.

Somehow, we've convinced ourselves that success means becoming good at everything.

But what if success looks more like recognizing the gifts we've been given...

...and celebrating the gifts we've been given in someone else?

My sister had a gift.

She could bring orchids back to life.

I couldn't.

Instead of trying to become her...

I learned to admire her.

Today, I think that's one of the greatest forms of love.

Not competition.

Celebration.

She never made me feel less because I couldn't grow orchids.

She simply smiled, took them home, and returned them to the world more beautiful than before.

Looking back...

I realize she was doing the same thing with people.

She had a way of helping others bloom.

And what a gift that was.

Gosh, I miss her so very much. 

Coffee Conversation

Before we finish our coffee together...

Can I leave you with one question?

Whose gift have you been quietly admiring instead of celebrating?

Tell them.

The world has enough comparison.

It can always use more encouragement.

This Week's Reminder

You don't have to possess every gift to appreciate its beauty.

Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer is celebrating someone else's.

Until next time, keep leading with strength and living with purpose.

-srt

#ThursdayThoughts
#LiveWithPurpose
#ChooseJoy
#PersonalGrowth
#Gratitude
#CelebrateOthers
#ReaCoachingandConsulting

Living a Beautiful Life

Somewhere along the way, many of us started believing we had to be good at everything.

• The perfect employee.
• The perfect parent.
• The perfect leader.
• The perfect friend.
• The perfect cook.
• The perfect gardener.

The perfect...

        Everything.

If I'm honest, I've spent seasons of my life trying to become someone who could do it all.

The older I get, the more I'm realizing something.

I don't have to be good at everything to live a beautiful life.

I can celebrate the people who are gifted where I'm not.

I can ask for help.

I can admire someone else's talent without questioning my own.

I can stop trying to become everything and start becoming the person God created me to be.

There's a strange kind of freedom in that.

Because when we stop measuring ourselves by everything we aren't...

We finally have room to appreciate everything we are.

This Week's Reminder

You don't have to be good at everything to live a beautiful life.

Happy Monday, friends.

Until next time, keep leading with strength and living with purpose.

-srt

#MotivationalMonday #Leadership #Growth #LiveWithPurpose #ReaCoachingandConsulting

The Sweetness of Waiting

I've been thinking about our conversation on Monday.

About the pear trees.

All week I've been helping graduate students put the finishing touches on their final projects.

There's a certain excitement that comes with watching people realize how much they've learned.

It's easy to focus on the finished project.

• The presentation.
• The grade.
• The accomplishment.

But those moments only exist because of months of steady work.

Then I walked through the orchard again.

The pears are still hanging from the branches.

They're close.

But they're not ready.

And that's exactly how they're supposed to be.

No one gets frustrated with a pear for taking its time.

No one stands beneath the tree shouting, "Come on! Hurry up!"

We understand that fruit ripens according to nature's timeline.

So why are we so impatient with ourselves?

Why do we expect healing to happen overnight?

Confidence to appear instantly?

Dreams to unfold according to our schedule?

As a coach, I often meet people who feel discouraged because they believe they should be further along by now.

Maybe you've felt that way too.

But what if your life isn't behind?

What if you're simply still ripening?

Growth isn't always visible.

    Sometimes it's happening quietly beneath the surface.

        Sometimes it's happening while no one else notices.

            Sometimes the waiting is doing as much work as the growing.

Coffee Conversation

Before we finish our coffee together...

Can I leave you with one question?

What in your life are you trying to harvest before it's had time to ripen?

Sit with that.

Maybe the waiting isn't delaying your story.

Maybe it's preparing it.

This Week's Reminder

The sweetest fruit is rarely the first to ripen.

Until next time, keep leading with strength and living with purpose.

-srt

#ThursdayThoughts #Leadership #Growth #LiveWithPurpose #ReaCoachingandConsulting