In the spring of 2020, a hollyhock plant appeared in my front flower bed. I watched as a tall stem with pale pink flowers reached for the sky. It ultimately reached a height of over ten feet. I continued to enjoy this perennial plant during the two Covid years.
I was surprised this spring to see dark pink flowers blooming. One stem displayed the original pale pink blossoms. Another had dark pink blossoms. Was this a new plant that grew close to the old plant or had the original plant evolved to present blooms of different shades of pink?
When I look at the hollyhock plant now, a stem with dark pink blossoms reaches for the sky. It has already achieved a height of over six feet.
Life is full of surprises and unexpected events. Life takes me down paths that I didn’t choose. The world is not always how I wish it to be. And sometimes I feel a loss of control. But I have choices. I can look down at the dirt below my feet and complain about the unevenness of the path and the darkness that lies ahead.
Or I can look around me, look upward and enjoy beautiful moments even though life has caused me to walk a dark path. Like the hollyhock plant, I can reach upward. I can choose my attitude.
And I will.