Life in a Garden

        It's always the same reaction when people walk into my garden. They squeal and gasp and say "It's so beautiful, look at all the flowers!" Yes, look at all the flowers. Not one of them, but all. No one flower is ever appreciated over another, no one is more special. It's a tough life, being a flower. It is in our nature to have big egos, but how are we supposed to think we're the fairest flower to have lived if we're never noticed? In my flower bed, I share with flowers of all kinds. We're one of those gardens, the intermixed ones. Now I'm not one of those stuck up flowers that would wilt if they ever had to share soil with flowers of a different type (like the roses, they think they're all that), but it makes it hard to be noticed. All people see are colors and shapes when they look at my flower bed. So I've been trying to set myself apart, break away, be noticed. Among the flower bed, there are different reactions to my behavior. Some cheer me on, some scold me, ad some are completely indifferent. That just shows all the different types of flowers in my bed, so many personalities! Well anyway, I've tried being taller, but there's a lot of competition in the bed considering   we have snapdragons and foxgloves. So then I tried being brighter, which I thought would be a cinch considering I am a red orange color already. But those annoying marigolds stole my thunder. Well then I tried to be bigger, but I couldn't beat those ever flowering mums who had too many petals to count. So then I tried to have softer petals than everyone else, but apparently daisies are unbeatable. So now I'm here, out of ideas and still just as invisible as I was when I started this whole endeavor. I look around the garden, searching for more inspiration that would set me apart. Just then, two girls walked over to my flower bed. One of them looked right at me and sighed. She pointed me out to here friend and said "isn't that beautiful, I just love poppies." Her friend nodded and they moved on throughout the garden. I stood still, letting the wind run through my petals as I thought about what just happened. I got noticed! Even though I hadn't done anything different, I got noticed! And then I realized, I never needed to do anything different. Just like the snapdragons, the marigolds, the mums, and the daisies, I didn't need to try to be different, I already was! I was just as important to this beautiful flower bed as any other flower, and I contributed something special. I felt a huge sense of relief at this realization. Now I could just be myself, and know that it is very special to be me.