Word 089
On a summer morning, rows of potted lotus flowers line the grounds of Kikoji Temple. Though the buds all opened on the same day, some are already blooming wide, while others remain tightly closed.
None of the lotuses seem concerned with the pot beside them. Each is simply, quietly opening in its own time.
At the back of the main hall stands a structure said to have been built as a trial run — testing the scale and methods — before construction began on Todai-ji's Great Buddha Hall. This place quietly reminds us that even the greatest challenges need their own time to prepare.
With motivation and hope in your heart, you must have taken some kind of action.
But before you know it, you start comparing yourself to those around you — thinking, "I need to try harder," or "compared to them, I'm..." — and anxiety creeps in.
This isn't how it was supposed to be...
But it's okay to go at your own pace.
Because you are wonderful, exactly as you are.
The lotus is not competing with anyone to bloom first. It is simply living its own time — and that alone is already beautiful enough.