It's all about perspectives

Dandelions.   I have been waging a literal and figurative war against them for years now.

Dandelions are miserable, horrible weeds that continually seek to take over my yard and kill my grass.   If I try to mow them, they seem to get shorter and shorter until the mower doesn't reach them.  If I try to pull them, they break off at the root.  They get shorter and more slippery, until I can't get that root out at all.  I have tried chemical warfare on them, but I have to keep putting chemicals out over and over and I worry for the animals in my yard.   I have a whole forest of dandelions on the side of my house.   They are a true menace.

But is there another perspective on dandelions? Another way to see them that I am missing?

Dandelions are incredible plants.   Children adore them, and my daughter used to bring them to me by the handful.  I would put them in vases, and to me, they were the most beautiful flowers in the world because they came from her.   How many times have you picked a dandelion when they are all fluffy and white with seeds?   I used to call these 'wishing flowers' and I would blow with all of my might to send the seeds away and send my dreams and hopes out with them on the wind.
Dandelions also can be used for food!   The fancy spring mix salad always has dandelion leaves in it, and I have heard that people even make dandelion wine.   
Dandelions are incredibly adaptive.  You don't have to water or maintain them.  They live in drought, they live in wet.  They are effective at surviving.  They have deep roots, and a really fantastic way to reproduce themselves.

I guess it's all in your perspective.

Now to my figurative war on the dandelions in my life.    I have many: mental illness, codependency, trouble with my relationship to food, and sometimes, my relationships with people.    I have hated these things in my life.   I have hated myself and my appearance.   I have hated my soul.   I have waged a war against these weeds of life and tried to rip them out anyway I could.  Grinding myself down to my bones to get rid of them.
Then little by little something really magic began to happen.  Instead of fighting them, I began to accept them.  Then and only then did they begin to diminish.
And the funny thing is that I still have all of these things.  They just don't have me, as much anymore.  And I don't care about them as much, and I don't feed them.   I accept them.  For the first time in my life I don't hate myself.    I am beginning to love myself and even like who I am and where I am,  right now in this moment.
I still have bipolar, I still have codependency issues and tendencies, I still struggle with binge eating.   I have days when I hate my body and hate myself - but those days are now becoming just 'once and a while' and not every day.    On the whole, I can accept myself.
The dandelions in my life have been some of my greatest gifts.  And they have been the vehicle for my dreams and wishes.   Just like the real plant.

And now for some statistics from Professor Kat:

 

 

Professor Kat is an avid reader of mental health statistics!   Here is his fact for the day from an online article at Redding.com :

The U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health reveals almost two-thirds of people with diagnosable disorders do not seek treatment in part because of the associated stigma. The same report indicates these concerns are heightened in smaller towns and rural communities.

 

Happy Father's day to all of you dads out there!

 

And now for a final word from our Life Coach Cats:

 

Surprises are a part of life.   Sometimes they are good, and sometimes they are bad.  Or maybe they just ARE.  We can't change the surprise; we can only change our reactions to them.

Some days are better than others for me with this!