Taking Up Root

I remember as a little girl watching my mother plant, nurture, prune, and repot her plants. Her favorites were African Violets. She had them in every color, and when she saw an African Violet in the store that hadn’t bloomed yet, she could still identify the color of the bloom by looking at the stems.

The most interesting thing I would watch her do is repot the African Violets. When she determined that the roots were too big for a particular pot, she would get soil and a larger pot to begin the process of repotting. She would let me know that if the plant stayed in its current pot, it would die.

I think of this process when considering our growth. Sometimes we are in “pots” that may represent our jobs, careers, businesses, friendships, and relationships. We need more room to grow. The roots we put down are now choking the life out of us. However, we fail to make a move and slowly die in the process.

In the process of repotting, the current pot is turned over and gently shaken to loosen the soil and roots from the pot. If the plant refuses to come out because of “root bound” (roots are tightly curled around the sides and bottom of the root ball), a sharp object has to be used around sides of the pot to remove the plant. In the process, there may be some roots lost. Next a slit is put through the sides and bottom of the root ball to encourage the roots to branch out to new soil. How many times do we have to be cut, disappointed, and rejected before we branch out to new soil because of our refusal to grow and move on our own?

Refuse to be stagnant, complacent, bound, and un-nurtured like the root ball. What about you? Growth should be a lifetime. It is not a degree; it is not a class; and it is not a lesson. It is the continuous process of creating, maintaining, and being part of an environment that is living, breathing, and moving.

Join us in learning to create your growth plan. Click here. Let’s uproot! It’s time to move, time to replant, and time to repot.