I’ve been learning a lot about myself here recently. I’m still growing and working on who I am now, and who I want to be.

But one thing I feel I’ve really learned recently is to bloom where you’re planted. I have spent a lot of my life wishing certain things were different or looking to the future and almost wishing my life away. I’m going to do my best to explain and organize my thoughts in this post, and maybe you’ll learn something from it as well.

If you aren’t aware, the idea of blooming where you’re planted is the idea of making the most of the situations where you find yourself. Again, I have spent a lot of time looking towards the future, and I’ve even put that sentiment on here in some of my posts. This isn’t an easy lesson for me. I want to always be better, but actually going through the process is often the hardest part. Things get to be a lot, and it stresses me out. I don’t like living in that stress. I just want to be through it and on to better things.

For me, this lesson I’m learning is also just to take things as slow as I (or you) need to. Sometimes it’s day by day; other times it’s minute by minute. I’m about three weeks out from the end of my intense schedule. That end is in sight. I want to be done, but I’m trying to enjoy each day as it comes.

I know there are things outside of my control. Let me use the analogy of a flower. Flowers bloom with a lot of things that go right. However, flowers cannot control how long the sun shines, how much water they get, or what the quality of the soil is like. What they can control are the nutrients they absorb and the decision to survive. Similarly, I can set goals, expectations, and accomplishments for the day. However, I can’t control how my students respond and act, events that disrupt my day, or the number of spoons I have for certain tasks.

There are a number of practices I’m trying to utilize to help me in this process. One of which is the idea of channeling my negative thoughts to redirect them. Here’s my example. I wrote down a list of things I wanted to get done for the weekend (I had a long weekend). Some of them were simple– like go through the pile of papers on my shelf– and others were more time-consuming– such as cleaning the shower floor. I had a good amount of productivity on Saturday and Sunday, but I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to. I despaired a little internally that I hadn’t knocked off my whole list. I decided that once I finished a game I was playing, I would look at my to-do list and knock one other thing off of it. Do you know how surprised I was when I looked at the list and saw there were only four things left? And they were all easy tasks too! I did one thing in like 2 seconds, and I felt motivated to do more. I got all four tasks done in about an hour and a half. Even though it took me a little longer, I still crossed everything off my list that I wanted to get done.

That’s what I mean about blooming where you’re planted. I spent way more time listening to the lies my brain told me than to completing the tasks I needed to do. When I finally looked at what I needed to do, I got all of the things done, and I felt better afterwards. I had more energy to go to my activity last night. I have more energy today knowing that I’m not carrying stuff over from last weekend. I can make a new to-do list for this week.

Another thing I’m doing is setting an alarm as a reminder for a daily task for myself. I want to be at the point where I can do this by habit, but just wishing for it wasn’t doing anything for me. I’m having to make an effort to get the goal I want. So I’m taking a breath, setting an alarm, and working on building the habit I want to instill.

This idea is also about recognizing what brings you to this point. For example, if you’ve ever seen a flower blooming in odd places, then you should know what I’m talking about. It might be unusual, like the crack of a sidewalk, but the flower made it work. I’m trying to live by the same principle. Not every situation and circumstance is great or conducive for growth, but I still want to find a way.

Like I’ve already said (and to summarize), blooming where you’re planted means accepting the situations that are out of your control and taking things slow rather than always looking ahead. Yes, I’m still going and working on me. But I’m accepting the struggle . I want to make the most out of each day to be the best version of myself. I’m realizing that it’s the work I put in each day that matters more than the goal. I’ll never get to where I want to be if I don’t put the effort in. I’m doing okay, and I want to be able to thrive in the day-to-day. So I’m going to breathe, and make the most of each and every situation. I hope you’ll do the same.