Difference Between a Weed and a Flower.

I just learned a profound lesson today.

How do you explain the difference between a weed and a flower to a 5 year old innocent child?

A child looks over my shoulder and wonders why I'm pulling out dandelions and little purple flowers. And why I would be planting other flowers back into my garden. Try to explain that they are weeds, and she asked "How do you know the difference between a weed or a flower?"

She seems to make perfect sense. How do you really distinguish the difference? We can say that the flowers are beautiful and that the dandelion is not. But as the picture above shows, I would be wrong. I could explain that the weed contributes nothing to the garden. But God put them there, in their brilliant colors, for a reason - so they do have a significance.

I remember that as a kid, I would pick dandelions and give them to my mother. She would tell me how "nice" they were, but that I should realize that they are just weeds. Why don't I go out and pick "pretty flowers" instead. She would show me that real flowers were prettier than weeds. And that real flowers were planted by hand - not growing wild in the fields.

I started to ponder this thought and came to the conclusion that the only difference is the value we place on one over the other. So is a flower really a better choice over a weed to decorate my garden?

By looking at the pictures on this post I cannot say that a weed had less value or provides less beauty to a garden than a rose would.

So as Wayne Dyer says:

"The only difference between a weed and a flower is a judgement."

We cannot judge people, as flowers, only based on their outward beauty. Each of us has a deep down beauty and a significant soul. God hand-picked each one of us and placed us onto this garden we call earth. Each and everyone of us are of significant value to God and have been selected for a purpose in this life.

So learn to see the beauty in each individual in your life. See them for who they are and not for who you perceive them to be. Acknowledge them now! For they really are a significant part of your life.

Only in Our Memories...

Only in our memories does one exists. I have gone years without seeing a loved one and then out of the blue I get a thought about them & remember them. The memory of what it was like to be with that person makes that moment real for me. Happy or sad emotions fill up inside me and I relive that memory. It is real for me all over again. So even if the person no longer exist - physically - consider that they exist in my memories.

We create our existance and experiences - and that energy lives only because we choose to have it live as a part of our memories. I believe that our energy never disappear - it only changes form.

So this came up because as I was thinking this, I turn on a Tivo recording of Star Trek NG. And the episode - by no coincidence - is of the death of Tasha Yar. Yeah! I know it's a fictional show but the message of the memorial service really impacted me. Tasha, at her memorial services, shows up as a hologram. As she addresses each crew member in the service she end by saying the following:

"Death is that state in which one exists only in the memory of others...
...which is why it is not an end. Just lots of good memories."

At the end of the service, Data seems puzzled & questions Capt. Picard about the gathering:

"The purpose of this gathering confuses me. My thoughts are not for Tasha, but for myself. I keep thinking how empty it would be without her presence. Did I miss the point, Captain?" To this Capt. Picard replies, "No Data - you got it."

Memorial service for Lt. Tasha Yar
Skin of Evil - Star Trek NG

My point is that no one (dead or alive) is really gone - lest we forget.