As an amateur gardener (okay, a goofball who can’t distinguish most flowers from weeds) I recently dead-headed our drift roses in an attempt to have them bloom again. It worked. Then my son-in-law recommended doing the same to our cannas. Success – new blooms! Nature (God) has a way of bringing new life where it was once lost.

I was thinking about times when I have “bloomed again”. Usually, it’s after some disappointment or heartbreak. Things seems bleak and I feel lost but somehow through “pruning” and a little self-care, I find the sun and the nutrients, and my life is renewed. Still the process is often painful.

I worked for the same company for over 20 years. I rose through the ranks beginning as a Project Manager and was promoted to Senior Project Manager, then Operations Manager and finally the Senior Vice President of Operations for North America and Europe. Sounds pretty impressive, doesn’t it? Well, that all came crashing down when the President of our division came into my office one afternoon and closed the door. Our company had recently been acquired by a larger firm and as my boss put it so succinctly, “I don’t want you to get caught flat-footed.” Restructuring – that dirty word that meant someone in our corporate offices was looking to cut positions and salaries, probably to boost their own salary – had reared its ugly head. My boss’s advice: “Get your resume in order.” He didn’t say, “You’ve been a good friend, a confidant, a valued member of my team and I’m fighting to keep you”. It was pretty obvious that he was looking to save his own skin, and I was being considered collateral damage. I know all is fair in love and war, and I guess work, but when you’ve devoted yourself to an organization for two decades and you get treated like yesterday’s news it hurts (mainly my pride but there were major concerns about my finances, too).

The following week my boss came back into my office with a proposition. I could relocate to another division. As luck would have it, there was an opening for a Project Manager. The proposal: commute 5-1/2 hours from home once or twice a month, accept a position as a Senior Project Manager and keep my V.P. salary (which either meant that the faceless corporate decision-makers were being benevolent, or I was being underpaid – I’m going with the later). Regardless, the paychecks kept coming, and I found a new team to work with who surpassed my expectations. We worked very well together and became the best team in the division. We truly liked one another. We turned around a struggling account. Within two years, I was once again promoted and was able to retire with dignity. But what I learned during my “pruning” was this: I already had dignity. The position, the office, the titles meant nothing compared to the relationships that I had with the people I worked with. I was afforded a chance to “bloom again” and I bloomed brighter and stronger than ever before. None of this was my own doing. The incredible people I worked with in my new assignment revitalized me. I could have remained resentful and bitter, but they carried me to a better place. I will be forever grateful for their professionalism, work ethic and kindness to the “old” new guy.

So, when you’re feeling stuck or think you’re done, don’t give up. When life deals you a blow, don’t lose hope. Prayer helps. So does the love of friends and family. Clip away your ego. Trim back your pride. Hold on to what is important. Remember with a little pruning you can bloom again.

I did. And so do my drift roses and cannas. God is good!

Peace,

Denis