By Dr. Marcia Davis-Dawkins
I have often heard the expression, “Bloom where you are planted”, but never fully really thought about it until a few months ago. This expression might mean different things to different people. For me, it could means that even when things seem dim, in my work, at play, in my personal life – career, weight, friendship among other things, I should keep going, stay on course, and persevere. Even when things seem hopeless, I might not know who I am being an inspiration to. I strongly believe that nothing happens by chance – wherever I am and whatever I am called to do, to do it heartily and the rewards will flourish.
Opportunities
I consider that with opportunities in our lives, I should be thankful for whatever and wherever the situation or space we find ourselves in, I should do the best with what I have and even give back to people who are in a less fortunate situation than I am in. In this way, I will find out that things will just begin to flow because I am giving back. I still believe that there are good people in this world – despite what seems despicable I will be rewarded. The important thing is that I should stay on course and stay focused. Even when I think that our teachers, co-workers, bosses, and fellow students, unfairly treat us at home, at work, we can continue doing great things. The notion is that nothing lasts forever.
As educators…
As educators this expression “grow where we are planted” – we are called in a sense, to maximize our potential as well as maximize the strengths of our students. Let’s think about planting a flower for instance, we might plant a seed and it eventually grows into a plant. The seed, then plant, and flower, would have had the correct condition (sunlight, water and sometimes care), the plant would then blossom or bloom beautifully and admired by many. The teacher might be in a certain school where he or she was planted (hired) and then a student is planted in that teacher’s classroom. With the correct condition and nurturing both the teacher and student are blossoming in the process, since they are both growing and blossoming. The teacher through collaboration with other teachers will become an expert and then pass on the nurturing process to the student. The cycle continues and teacher helps the student to be an amazing person. Of course, the process will be not always perfect because the weather conditions might not be great all the times. There might be stormy days and the does not get to blossom or flourish. With that said, even though life can have many issues (good and bad), we should not let the downs or bad keep us from pushing forward. At times we might feel trapped in our space but we have to remember that we were placed in a situation or a space for a reason. With creativity and pruning via corrections, teachers are meant to grow where God plants us.