Are You Smelling the Roses and Tending to Them Too?
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Everyone at some time has heard the expression, smell the roses. That is a good thing, but of course, someone has to tend to the roses too. Roses, in case you did not know, need a fair amount of attention to thrive.
Do remember too, Aesop’s fable, “The Grasshopper and the Ant?” The ants are working hard in the summer, collecting food, to be sure to have food for the winter ahead. The grasshopper meanwhile enjoys summer to the fullest. No concerns, no worries, only enjoying life. The grasshopper was out and about, singing and playing music to his heart’s content. The grasshopper asked the ants to sing and play with him, but the ants said no, they had to work ahead to plan for the winter. The ants too offered the advice to the grasshopper.
The grasshopper replied, “it’s a glorious day and winter is far away.”
Winter came, and the grasshopper came to the ants begging for food. The grasshopper stated he was too busy playing and making music to work when confronted by the hard working ants. The ants, in disgust, shook their heads and turned their backs.
The moral of the story is to plan ahead and that there is a time for both work and play. Others may argue that the ants’ industriousness is self-serving and brutal. For the ant, where are compassion, charity, and servanthood?
The fable comes down to having a purpose. Building a healthy self-esteem requires attaining an appreciation of the good things and beauty in life that are all around us. It requires awareness. Building self-esteem requires participating in life. One must remember not taking all of the beauties in life for granted. Often it is other dedicated people who planted the flowers and maintained them for others to share the delight in their beauty and fragrance.
Indeed, it is wonderful to see, enjoy, and receive many of the splendid things in our lives. But think about this; it is even more pleasant to be aware of the give and take, the relationship between giving and receiving. That too is a healthy way in which to live our lives. Besides smelling the roses for our sake, let us tend to some too, so that others may enjoy the fragrance and behold the sight of a beautiful rose.
It is a sense of purpose that makes self-esteem bloom. It is a healthy self-esteem that both enjoys and serves and even better, enjoys the maintaining of the roses.
