I choose love over.  Will you join me?

Do you choose your focus for each new year?  If not, I invite you now to choose your focus for 2018.

The following story will, I hope, illustrate why it’s important to choose your focus.

I bought a house plant in 2008.  This is a stock photo, not a photo of my plant.  Yes, this blog directly relates to the name of this website, so please hang in there with me.  Telling the story of my plant is the best way I can imagine to blog in this new year.

I used to kill plants.  I didn’t mean to.  I never felt the oneness with plants so many do.  A friend once insisted I take a stalk from her favorite plant, which looked to me like blood red ivy.  It seriously creeped me out. It creeped me out so much I named it Hemorrhage.  I knew I’d somehow find a way to kill the plant, so I decided to save all of us time and create its ending through its given name.  The obedient plant died quickly.

I bought my first house plant in 2008, right around the time the stock market crashed.  Someone had told me that jade plants attract money, and I was paying a lot of money to care for my mom after her brain injury.   This someone told me jade plants have round leaves.  I found a plant with round leaves, assumed it was a jade plant, and took it home.  I later learned it wasn’t a jade plant.  To the best of my knowledge, it was an unlisted plant.

The plant lived.  Not only did it live, it thrived.  I placed it on my dining room table.  I never fed it.  I didn’t know about plant food.  Yes, I was just that ignorant.  I watered it when I thought of it, which wasn’t often enough.  It never saw the light of day; I’d placed it beneath a light fixture I never turned off.  I don’t know how the plant thrived, but it grew more each year.

This was the first plant ever I couldn’t kill.  I was so happy!

I moved it from the table to just inside a large window about eighteen months ago.  I figured it would get a lot more natural light in the new place.  I did some research, learned about plant food, and began feeding  it regularly.  I also made a point of watering it as needed, not when I happened by and thought, “Hey, that soil looks pretty dry.”

The plant loved its new location and grew faster and bigger.  A few of its longer stalks trailed down the sides of the pot.  The plant and I had bonded.  I loved our bond.  I finally understood that oneness thing people have with their plants.

Someone began walking his dog past the big window earlier this year.  He has been through a lot during the past few years and seemed to be angry with life.  He would stop by the window before moving on.  He stopped longer some times than others.

I noticed one of the vertical stalks of my plant had gone completely flat.  It looked like it had been shot.  I wondered if I wasn’t taking good enough care of the plant.  No, I was still feeding it and watering it faithfully.  It was receiving good light.  I wasn’t the problem.

What had happened?  I am an intuitive.  I tuned into the plant for my answer.

The plant had begun to die because of the man’s anger.  Even though he most likely wasn’t aiming his anger at the plant, the plant felt his anger as a personal attack.  Even though the man stood by my window, he was standing in a public area.  Even if my plant was paying the price for his proximity, I had no right to tell him to go away.

I didn’t believe what I had received from the plant.  How could that be possible?

I moved the plant back to its former position on the dining room table.  The stalk returned to its upright position within a few days.

I felt like a good mommy and moved it back to its place by the large window.  The stalk stayed upright and the plant continued to grow.

I noticed a few months later that long and sharp spines were growing from each of the plant’s many stalks.  The spines looked like weapons.  In all the years the plant and I had lived together, I never saw it grow spines.

I knew it was time to find the plant a new home, a home with great natural light and a home far away from the angry man.  A neighbor who loves all her plants agreed to adopt my friend.  I was happy to rehome my cherished plant if that was what it took to protect it.

Perhaps you know the story of Luther Burbank, who wanted to grow a variety of spineless cactus.  He told the cactus each day that it was safe with him, that there was no need for it to grow spines, that he would protect it.  The cactus paid attention.  Luther Burbank did what he set out to do.  Without doing any genetic modifications, he was able to grow spineless cactus.

What is the moral of this story?

Are you an angry person?  You may think your anger is all about you, that you don’t need to do anything about it.  It isn’t.  Your anger affects everyone you meet:  people, animals, plants, fish, forests, you name it.  Your anger affects, through our continuous connection with the all, everyone that everyone you meet meets.  Ultimately, your anger, either directly or indirectly, affects the entire world.

We live in a transitional world increasingly populated by angry people.  People often get angry when faced with unexpected change, and people often have what they feel are good reasons for their anger.  Are their reasons for their anger good enough to justify threatening the safety of or even killing others?

It’s up to each of us to choose if  we will be one of the angry people in 2018, causing others to grow spines to defend themselves, or if we will be one of the loving people in 2018, causing others to feel safe enough to shed their spines.

I choose love.  How about you?

Copyright 2018 by Sheryl Hirsch-Kramer.  All rights for any further use reserved.  For permission to repost or reuse the above only in its entirety, fill out this form:  http://www.transformingthroughlove.com/contact/  The information presented at www.TransformingThroughLove.com and during coaching sessions is of a general nature and is not intended to be use as legal, medical or professional advice.  None of the information on this website is intended as a substitute for the counsel of a qualified doctor/physician, nurse, pharmacist, or other trusted health professional.  Always contact your own health care provider to assist you with your medical or health issues.  The information presented here is entertainment, information that is only meant to support you while you are being cared for by your own health care provider during your life’s journey.  It is not intended to be used as stand alone legal, medical or professional advice.  We cannot and will not take any responsibility for the results or consequences of any attempt to use or adopt any of the information presented on this web site as legal, medical, or professional advice. Always consult your physician or trusted health professional to design a treatment plan for your own or for another’s wellness.  All the information on this website is intended solely as loving support intended to accompany traditional medical care, not as stand-alone advice.  We appreciate your donations; please send a message via the contact form for donation instructions.If you like what you’re reading here, please forward this website to a friend:  http://www.transformingthroughlove.com.