Let Children Bloom- A Lotus Lesson

What a lotus bud taught me about giving children the space, freedom and trust they need to realise their potential. 🥀🌷

A lotus, a bowl of marigolds, and a lesson in raising children.

This evening, I brought home a small lotus bud and placed it at the centre of a bowl full of marigolds.

After a while, I noticed something beautiful. The lotus bud had begun to open.

I wanted to capture the moment in a photograph, but something about that lotus didn’t feel right. It looked cramped, hemmed in by the flowers around it. Its delicate petals seemed stifled.

So, I removed other flowers that had begun to look withered and left the lotus to stand on its own. I took another photograph.

The two pictures, taken just minutes apart, told a story that went far beyond flowers.

The lotus had not changed its nature. Its potential had not suddenly increased. What had changed was the space around it. When the lotus had room to open, its beauty became more visible.

And I couldn’t help thinking about our children. 𐀪𐀪𖠋

How often do we expect children to blossom while surrounding them with expectations, comparisons, constant instructions, competition and pressure?

We want them to be confident, yet we rarely allow them to make their own decisions. We want them to be creative, yet we insist that they follow our prescribed ways of thinking. We want them to discover their interests, yet we choose their activities, hobbies and ambitions for them. We want them to become independent, yet we hesitate to let them stumble, make mistakes and learn from their experiences.

We want them to bloom, but sometimes we leave them with so little room to grow. The lotus reminded me that sometimes, helping something bloom requires us:

▸To step back.

▸To make room.

▸To trust the process.

Perhaps the question we need to ask ourselves is not, “How can I make this child reach their full potential?” but, “Am I creating an environment in which this child can discover and realise their potential?”

It is space.

Space to be. Space to grow. Space to bloom.

Images source: My camera gallery

Your thoughts, please! ✎ᝰ.