Let me start by saying that I have no idea whether granadillas are, in fact, humble. For the purposes of my story they will be.
My story begins in October of 2017 in Cape Town, where I live. For those who have been watching the news, you will be aware that South Africa is experiencing a terrible drought and Cape Town is at risk of becoming one of the first cities in the world to run out of water. Needless to say, people are panicking.
Our water restrictions have become steadily more restrictive in nature. Bathing is a no-go and shower time is limited. People have started relying heavily on borehole water for non-consumption purposes. And people are capturing their shower and clothes-washing water for watering their garden and washing their cars.
The benefit in this is that it has made us Capetonians a hardy and sustainability-conscious bunch, as we have discovered ways of saving water that we would never have found had we not been in this predicament.
The downside is that my garden didn’t survive the drought. By October 2017, my grass was non-existent and my herbs and pot plants gave the impression that I had tried to start a garden by planting dried herbs. I didn’t even bother trying to revive anything. The granadilla creeper that I had planted in the ground a few years before wasn’t flowering and I figured, it too, would soon shrivel up and die.
But it didn’t. As the months went by and restrictions got even worse, I watched as, against all odds, the granadilla plant stretched out its creepers and expanded across the wall. It flowered and the flowers bore fruit. I began picking up armfuls of sweet burgundy fruit from the sand that used to be grass on a daily basis.
Now, naturally, I know that the granadilla plant’s roots had dug down deep and the plant was getting water from the groundwater reserves beyond the reach of my grass and potted plants. Yes, I know it isn’t a miracle. Or is it?
One morning, while marvelling at this feisty granadilla plant, I began to see the lesson (because our lessons really are around us all the time). When all the plants in the garden were screaming “DROUGHT” and suffering under the circumstances which were out of their control, this plant put in the extra effort and dug deep for a solution.
You too can be like my little granadilla plant. When you have a dream or desire, pursue it with everything you have got. Dig deep into yourself and find your solution. Yes, it will mean extra work and even having to push through some seriously tough ground, but if you persevere, your reward is that you will flourish and bear fruit, while the naysayers and those stuck in a state of victimhood will continue to believe in the drought of abundance, ideas and opportunities, and suffer as a result of those beliefs.
Choose your beliefs, most importantly, the ones you hold about yourself. Know that your power to create the life you want to live far exceeds the might of any obstacles that are placed in your path. You are not limited by what others believe is available to you or to themselves. You decide what you can and can’t do.
With hard work, passion and perseverance, you can be like my now not-so-little granadilla plant, bearing an abundance of delicious fruit when everyone said she didn’t have what it would take to do it.
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