A Lesson in Patience from the Magnificent Orchid

The flowers on our wedding day were white and purple orchids.  

I wore four in my hair. We also placed a stunning orchid plant in a beautiful, rectangular glass flower pot filled with grey polished stones as each centrepiece.  One lucky person at each table took one home and so did we.

The orchid from our wedding bloomed for many years.  The directions we were given were simple: place two ice cubes on it every week and make sure it gets enough light.  So we placed the orchid near a window and every Monday morning my husband or I put two ice cubes at its base.

That first year, we thought nothing was happening and wondered if the orchid was dead.  But to our delight, every year and sometimes twice per year, the orchid blooms.  And every time it blooms we’re both humbled and blown away by its beauty.

We have learned a couple of important lessons along the way – some predictable and others accidental. We learned that the orchid won’t bloom and may even die without enough light.  We also learned that placing the orchid inadvertently near the coffee steamer of our latte machine makes it grow strong and healthy.

So what life lessons can be drawn from this experience with the magnificent orchid?  

After a bit of reflection, here are several life lessons this experience has taught me:

• Follow the advice of people who have already successfully done what you want to do.
• Some of our most important breakthroughs may come to us by accident.
• A lot of hard work takes place that is invisible to the human eye to create something that will inspire and delight people.
• Sufficient rest and breaks are necessary to achieve a big goal.
• When we finally reveal the fruits of all of our hard work, we may surprise and amaze even those who think they know what to expect.

Most importantly, the orchid teaches us about patience. 

Patience is so important to complete any challenging task.  I have learned over and over that it always takes much longer than I think it will to achieve any big goal.  And so, having this beautiful, visible reminder – about the time it takes to plant seeds, nurture and care for them, and arrive at the season when the harvest occurs is a great lesson in patience.

So continue with all of your hard work, even if the results of it remain buried beneath the surface for now; nurture your children, write a page of that best-selling book, get your daily exercise and most importantly rest and care for yourself. And then when the time is right, just like the magnificent orchid, the fruits of all your hard work will become visible and inspire and delight all of us!

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