Day 232: Be Gentle With Your Petals

Day 232: Be Gentle With Your Petals

“Growth is not always graceful. Be gentle with your petals.”—One Step Collective

 

I’ve been hard on myself for as long as I can remember.

Pushing. Questioning. Tearing myself apart for not healing fast enough, not focusing well enough, not being “over it” yet. Even now, with everything I’ve overcome, I still hold myself to impossible standards. Still expect to bloom without bruises.

A dear friend—someone who follows this journey closely—reminded me of that today.

She sees the effort. The weight. The fight.

And gently asked, “When are you going to give yourself a break?”

I didn’t have an answer. But the question stuck.

Today, I looked at that rose blooming from the cracked earth, and it felt like a mirror.

The world around it is broken, waterlogged, harsh.

And still—it rises.

Not perfectly. Not untouched.

But undeniably beautiful.

And maybe that’s me, too.

Maybe I’ve been so focused on the cracks, I’ve forgotten the bloom.

Maybe I’ve mistaken survival for failure because it didn’t look clean or easy.

I’m learning—slowly—that growth isn’t always graceful.

Sometimes it’s gritty. Sometimes it’s silent.

And sometimes, it just means waking up and choosing not to give up.

So today, instead of punishing myself for the pace…

I’m choosing gentleness.

I’m choosing to see the strength in still being here.

I’m choosing to honor the bloom—scars, rain, and all.

One Step. One Punch. One Round. 🌹

—Your Fellow Traveler