Queen Anne’s Lace

I spent a fair amount of time at my grandparents’ large, sprawling farm as a kid.  I loved to wander through the surrounding fields.  I would gather armfuls of beautiful, oversized white lacelike flowers aptly named Queen Anne’s Lace. 

I remember my grandmother once telling me that the flowers that I adored so much were merely weeds and that there was really nothing special about them.  Still, I admired those intricate, delicate flowers with their soft silent beauty.  Sometimes I would stand and just watch them sway and dance to the music of a summer breeze.

I have a vivid memory of the day my grandmother shared that information with me.  She didn’t mean any harm in her statement, but it swayed me.  I began to doubt my own judgment because there was a stark contrast between what I believed and what I was told.  And, from that day forward, in my mind, my beloved Queen Anne’s Lace became a weed.  Not the stunning work of nature that had held my attention the day before.     

Sometimes I think we are very similar to those flowers.  We are born spectacular works of art.  Beautiful, unique, swaying and dancing to our own music.  Then, somewhere along the way, we lose touch with ourselves.  We begin to think that we are not good enough.  Not smart enough.  Not pretty enough.  Simply, not enough.  We begin to doubt ourselves and lose sight of our talents and beauty.  We begin to believe that there is really nothing that special about us.

The difference between us and the flowers is that they don’t know they have been labeled as “less than”.  They remain dazzling.  Defiantly they turn their faces toward the sun and shine their beauty for all to enjoy.  Their value has not diminished.  They are still wondrous works of art.

It is time for us to remember that we too are magnificent and that we were created with a purpose.  It is time for us to turn our faces toward the sun and shine brightly for all to see.   To throw off the worn-out labels we have placed upon ourselves and realize how valuable we are.  To live our lives to our fullest potential and truly know that we are more than enough.