Are you an annual or a perennial?
It’s a fair question.
Over the weekend, my husband and I spent hours working in our backyard. There’s always so much to do when it comes to preparing for the abundance of spring…cleaning, painting, fixing, tilling, hauling, digging, and more.
One of the things I love when the sun starts to shine, the grass starts to grow, the birds start to sing and the bees start to buzz is working my flower beds and pots, and preparing them for all the beautiful colors that are about to spring from the ground and come to life.
Right now the yard is still pretty gloomy…brown, dry, barren.
But soon the green will replace the brown.
Water will be flowing.
The entire yard covered with life.
And it’s the perennial grasses and flowers about to pop through the surface of the soil that will be the biggest, tallest and most beautiful as the warm weather and nourishing water bring everything back to life again.
As a business owner, mentor and entrepreneur I couldn’t help but think about the type of plant each of us are in the flower garden of our business, especially if your business (like one of mine) is in the industry of network marketing.
The dark, cold winter wipes an annual out…it winds up in the trash container and gets hauled off to the dumpster, tossed in with a pile of leaves to be burned or thrown over the fence to become part of the earth again.
But the dark, cold winter is nothing for a perennial…it may go dormant for awhile, but it uses the dark, cold winter to flourish; to come to life again – bigger, fuller and more vibrant than the year before.
Don’t get me wrong, annuals are gorgeous and serve a purpose – for a season – but that’s about all they have in them (rarely will an annual Snapdragon regenerate in the spring, but it does happen…I have a few of them poking out their green leaves right now!).
They are planted and they grow.
They are nourished and admired.
They fulfill a purpose for a short period of time, but they’re fragile.
If they don’t have daily attention and care, it can be hard for them to make it through even one season.
But perennials? They are hearty, strong and less fragile.
They don’t require as much care and upkeep.
For the most part, as long as they have fertile soil and a good water source, they can withstand the heat and the cold and the wind and the animals and make it for the long haul – growing stronger with every challenge and using each challenge as an opportunity to flourish.
They also contribute to the entire ecosystem in a dynamic way.
Here’s a simple comparison:
> “Annuals save nothing for future years. They sprout, reproduce, and die over the course of one growing season. They grow quickly, and put as much energy as they can into producing as many seeds as possible.”
> “Perennials reproduce as well but don’t put their whole effort into reproduction. They save some materials and energy for themselves to live another year. They grow at a more measured pace and produce fewer offspring, but their offspring have more resources to begin their own lives with. Perennials often create clones of themselves from offshoots of their root system.”
Read into it what you will.
Your current business and/or team is a beautiful, thriving, blossoming flower garden full of annuals and perennials. Every plant serves a vital purpose and plays an important role (and every weed needs to be plucked out and tossed as soon as it’s discovered before it chokes out the flowers!).
There is no criticism for what you are or might want be, but you do have the choice of being an “annual” or a “perennial”. Unlike the plants found only in nature, that’s the miraculous beauty of THIS garden and your role in it: YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE!
Unlike the plants found only in nature, that’s the miraculous beauty of THIS garden and your role in it: YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE!
YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE!
My hope is that you see your radiant beauty through the eyes of others…
That you see YOUR POTENTIAL through the eyes of those who love watching your flourish and grow.
You are amazing…and whatever you choose, your role in the garden is an important one.
If you feel like an ANNUAL (or heaven forbid, a WEED), but you really want to be a PERENNIAL, let’s connect and discuss how I can help you choose to change and live to see another year.
Let’s Connect!
Greater Support, Greater Opportunities & Greater Possibilities are waiting for you…if you’re open…if you choose…if you BELIEVE!
~Kellie
