Little Flower

"They tell us that plants are not like man immortal, but are perishable, soul-less. I think that is something that we know absolutely nothing about." John Muir (1838-1914) Scotland/USA


What do you think? Are plants soul-less? Are they just put on this earth to give us nourishment or enjoyment for a brief period of time and then are gone? What happens to them after they dry up and become part of the soil? Are they just gone or do they live on in the substance that they become a part of? How do we know what happens to anything, human, animal or plant after it's served it's purpose here? Faith and religion guide us in some regards, but perhaps not in others. I think John Muir's quote is probably correct. There are just some things that we know nothing about.

Happiness

"Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars . . . . and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers - happy for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are." Osho (1931-1990) India,USA

It's too bad that we can't just be happy for no reason. Why can't we? Do we just make things more complicated than they need to be? Do we constantly strive to have more, to do more or to be more? Do we complicate our lives unnecessarily and, as a result, cause unhappiness and dissatisfaction? Perhaps we need to examine our lives and determine if we're causing ourselves unnecessary unhappiness and stress. If we are, maybe we need to work on being a little more like the flowers, the birds and the trees, and be satisfied with what we have. Does that mean we shouldn't strive to do better and shouldn't have goals? No, it just means that we need to determine what's important to us and do the things that will help us achieve those goals instead of stressing about those things that aren't important.