Lessons and reminders come from the most interesting places, sometimes they are loud and bold; yelling and waving to get your attention, and sometimes they are subtle, quiet intimating whispers that gently breathe into your ear. My lesson and reminder came courtesy of an avocado seed and the little person who eats all of the food in my house. Remember I said interesting places, right? Let me make it all make sense.
Since the pandemic hit and we witnessed the supply chain shortage, I told myself that we, as a family, need to at least be able to feed ourselves in a crisis, therefore, we should put ourselves in a position where we don’t rely on a supply chain for food, but rather become self-sufficient and grow as much of our own food as possible. This was a huge project to even consider given my time is so thin and this would require building, planning and researching. When would I have time for that? Aside from that, those of you who know me, know that I have not quite stepped my handy-woman game up and I rely on my brothers and sisters to aide me in home projects, and by “aide” I mean they usually do it for me. Hey, don’t judge, baby sister privileges. Antywho, between my elaborate vision of a produce paradise and my quarantine schedule getting in the way, the goal of creating the garden oasis that I saw for myself was not picking up traction.
Then one evening my daughter and I were making burrito bowls and after cutting the avocado, I expressed to her that I wanted to clean up the seed and try to grow it, taking a small step in the direction of gardening. She thought it was a cool idea as she, in true teenage form, saw a tik tok video of someone growing avocados. I cleaned up the seed, grabbed a clear plastic cup, inserted toothpicks, placed the seed on the mouth of the cup and let it sit, changing the water every few days. At around 6 weeks, I saw nothing but a cracked seed. I felt disappointed and thought that I wasn’t able to make this seed grow. In my head this was the exact reason why I have life-like plants all around my house; some may say I was not gifted with a green thumb, so I gave up on trying to have real plants. I told my daughter that I was going to throw out the seed because nothing was growing, and she said to me, “Patience Mama, you have to have patience. Give it time!”
It was in that exact moment, I heard and received the lesson and the reminder. Life is about timing and it doesn’t happen exactly when we think it should happen, it happens when it’s supposed to happen and we as humans don’t get to decide life’s timing, that is bigger than us. I was so struck by her callout, as I often am from her wise mind, that I continued to repeat it to myself for a second. I told her she was right, and left the seed to be. About a week later, which was the following Sunday, we returned home from my sister’s which is part of our quarantine bubble on the weekends. As we were settling, I went into the kitchen, I looked at the avocado seed and yelled up to my daughter to hurry down and look. The seed that was just a seed when we left, had sprouted a stem and a root! I was so excited, my daughter said “See Mama, I told you patience, and you were ready to give up.” Are y’all feeling me on this one? I tried to be in control of something that was not mine to control, and because it didn’t sprout when I thought that it should sprout, I was ready to throw the whole seed away.
How often do we do this in our everyday life? How often do we not get the promotion, or the job we want and we give up? How often does the road to pursuing our passions seem too bumpy and we get discouraged and abort the journey? How often does a relationship end and you become more consumed with the why as opposed to preparing for what’s next? We are human, we have all been there, but today I want to encourage patience. We have to stop putting a timestamp on what is meant for us and begin believing in, and appreciating, the journey of making “it” happen. Maybe, just maybe, what you thought “it” looked like, the universe said it’s got something greater for you, but it may look a little different, and / or take a little longer to attain. We can’t cut off our nose to spite our face by letting our ego get in the way, by wanting it now, and if not now, then we give up and throw the whole vision in the garbage.
The avocado and my little person, were an awesome reminder about faith and the importance of actively pursuing life and all endeavors with openness and patience. It took weeks for that seed to sprout, and it will take years for it to bear fruit, and just like with my own life, I am committed to the lessons, the care, the growth, and the timing. Patience friends, life will bear the fruit destined in time and with patience.
Be well!