The Dandelion Seeds November 11 Daily Reflection

Jake blowing the seeds from a dandelion

Among the short cut grass and between the mulched leaves Jake spotted it, a single dandelion.  The dandelion by this time in the fall had gone to the seed head you see in the picture above.  He ran as if racing to pluck it suddenly from the earth. “Mommy, Mommy look I can blow it. Watch Mommy, Watch!”  I stopped on the path and watched him blow the seeds as hard as his little 4 year old lungs could.  Spit of course was more prevalent than wind.  However, after about 7 tries the majority of the seeds blew away and he dropped the stem to the ground and was off to the next new discovery.

In the moments that he treasured that dandelion he had no idea that he spread more out into the world.  When he plucked it from the earth little did he know that 40 more could grow from the seeds he blew into the breeze that fall afternoon.  To him it was just something he had seen his big brother do hundreds of times.  The seeds were spread by my little boys breath onto the wind to find a new place to settle and grow into new bright yellow dandelions for the following spring.

How often do we do that in our normal lives?  Do you ever just say hi to someone just to be nice and go about your day?   Not knowing that we have ever effected the future of that person’s life?  Have you ever just been very kind to a complete stranger and not thought anything of it?  We cannot see where those tiny seeds landed in the grass ;they are not visible to my eyes.  We cannot see what our words hold for others in their lives.

The same is true when we hurt others or act selfishly.  When we run out of time and are staring at our watches in a mad rush to get out of line so we can make it to pick up the kids in time and we act very abrupt with the clerk at the grocery store.  When we think we own the road and act less than courteous when we are driving.  When people slow us down and we roll our eyes at others that just seem to be in the way.  We are not intentionally trying to plant seeds of pain, hurt or inadequacy in others, half the time we don’t even realize that’s what we have done. 

A friend told me just the other day “that she decided years ago to live a conscious life.”  To live a conscious life you cannot just pluck up everything you see and throw it down again when you are finished with it.  Instead you  become keenly aware of your actions and what the reactions can be.  We think we are too busy to be aware, it is an excuse.  We are capable of change! Next time we feel stressed we need to breathe and think to ourselves what is our goal and how can we accomplish it without hurting others? 

So today as you go out into the world and are in a hurry, we all are all the time, slow your mind down a bit and think what is my goal and how am I effecting others.  Next time you pluck that flower think about where those seeds could land. Instead of hurting someone else lift them up so that they may grow from your actions of kindness. So that one day they may be a bright yellow dandelion blowing in the breeze that will in the future spread seeds of kindness to even more people.