The phrase "Bloom Where You're Planted" may sound like a cheesy garden plaque, but it is one slogan that should be hanging in my garden or, better yet, taped to my forehead. I have been accused in the past of being "non assuming to a fault". Well, not really "accused" - more like labeled. It's true that I will tend not to speak up unless called out or asked specifically for my input; I assume my thoughts or opinions are not very unique and, therefore, obvious to most. But you throw the word "fault" in there and it sounds like a bad thing. How can what seems to me like prudence and humility be a fault? Aren't there proverbs about the wisdom of just keeping your mouth shut? Perhaps because it is, at its root, a fear of standing out... Risking failure... Embarrassment... Being wrong. Perhaps it's an excuse to stay in the shadows, so as not to be sunburned by the limelight. Well, I tried that, three times now in three different settings, and what I found is that I got burned anyway. Even while trying not to step on toes or overstep my bounds, I seemed to create enemies.
So, I am trying a new tactic...confident boldness...well, my version which may look more like subtle offerings to some but I assure you, requires great courage on my part. I'm going to quit looking for evidence that I'm average and start to assume that God put me where I'm at because I carry some unique gift to that moment. It strikes me that this is not pride or foolishness, the opposites of my excuses "humility" and "prudence", but really a greater level of trust in God that I can be fully me and it will be good enough. That offering more of whatever He's put in me for that moment is being a good steward, a faithful servant, a trusting daughter.
This may seem obvious for some of you confident extraverts but I'm sure there are some who, like me, have kept to the shadows and held your cards close. I thought the shadows would be safer, but they weren't. I was willing to sacrifice some effectiveness or purpose if the payoff was never being disliked or thought ill of - it was a bad deal. So don't be afraid to open up...show your true colors... and BLOOM.
