To Inspire:

This past spring I decided to plant a small corner of my front yard with a variety of colorful flowers. This small corner faces south and gets plenty of sunshine.

I bought a number of flower seed packets. I didn’t really know what I was buying other than that the flowers pictured on the seed packets were pretty. I opened each packet, mixed the seeds from all the packets together, cultivated the soil, spread the seeds, and began a watering regimen.

It took a while for the seeds to germinate. Some did so much earlier than others. But by the first of August the small corner of my front yard was a rainbow of red, yellow, orange, blue, purple and pink. Here we are in late October and the flowers continue to bloom. Each week I take some cuttings and put them in a vase on our kitchen counter. The smile I get from my wife makes it all worthwhile.

But as the season for flowers comes to an end, I find myself thinking about some lessons I have learned on this horticultural journey.

The hot dry summer took its toll on other areas of my lawn, but my focus on cultivating the soil and regularly watering my colorful corner reminds me how any worthwhile pursuit (family, career, fitness, friendships, spiritual growth, etc.) requires time, energy and resources.

I have noted how the differences in colors, sizes and shapes of the flowers, attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, all thriving together, is in stark contrast to how we humans allow our differences to bring out the worst in how we relate to each other.

Finally, in recent weeks I have taken note of how in the evenings, bees can be found perched on many of the flower blooms. These bees are old. Some have died while drawing nectar from the bloom. Others continue efforts to serve the hive as their lives come to an end. But all do what they were created to do up to the very end.

At The Joseph Group we believe humans, like the bees, were created with certain talents from which we develop passion, purpose, and meaning. Find your passion, purpose, and meaning for being. There’s where you will find true JOY.

Written by Mark Palmer, Partner & Co-Founder