Blooming Once a Year

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” – Henry Ward Beecher

I have had these azaleas in the front of my house since I moved here ten years ago. When we first moved in these guys were maybe about six inches high. Now they are about three feet high. I have one about four feet high. I don’t really do much to them. I add some fertilizer and prune them once a year. They are a pretty easy plant to maintain. There is one catch, these guys only bloom once a year. When they bloom, they are amazing. For the rest of year, they look like a regular green bush.

Being grateful has to happen more often than an azalea blooms. Too often we are only thankful when we get something, but having gratitude is a practice that needs to happen daily. Being grateful daily reminds us of how good we have it, and how many good things we have. Life is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, however when we learn to appreciate what we have we can then enjoy life just a little bit more.