I still remember the day I first realised I could keep an outdoor plant alive for more than a week.
It was three years ago when we moved to Ballarat, looking to be a part of a community where there were trees all around, the neighbours had each other over for tea, and it was a short walk to a café or pub.
I never had a flower garden until the move, so learning how to tend to roses has been a new experience,
A friend told me once that if I pruned my roses the weekend of the King/Queen's birthday, they’d be in full bloom by Melbourne Cup. I decided to give it a go this year.
Little did I know how perfect an opportunity it would be to practice embracing this month’s theme - Beautiful Moments
See Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence is not a top strength of mine, so sometimes I have to work a bit harder to tap into it.
Now, you may be wondering if it’s worth the effort to cultivate a new strength in midlife, especially one about beauty.
For me it’s a clear yes. Because when you have appreciation of beauty and excellence as a strength you more easily notice the beauty and wonder around you.
And once you notice it (we call it strengths spotting), you can more consciously create moments of beauty in your own life.🏵️
Working full-time, having a business, and taking care of two fur babies can sometimes make me feel I don’t have time for a pause (like, who’s going to clear my never-ending to-do list?!).
But through my ongoing focus on understanding what makes me tick and gives me joy (Fans of self-discovery unite!) I find that I’m less on autopilot and more on making each moment count.
So back to the roses. I spent this morning pruning them back and found so many moments to appreciate the beauty around me! I could smell the crispness of a cold morning, but also the warming coziness of my neighbours’ open fire. I discovered that that my white roses were turning a light shade of pink (after a quick google search, turns out this is pretty common when the temperature drops). And the cup of cocoa I had afterwards was absolutely divine – chocolatey excellence!
Your turn - Take a pause and look around you. What do you see? Where can you find a beautiful moment in the everyday?