Life as Roses

I always tell my friend, don't hide.

So many years of existence, I have lent more than a dozen times of shoulders and ears. I remembered reading an article from a school-published book, a story about Ears.

Everyone will have a crisis at some point of their lives. Never mind, cut back down and restart, that's the way. It is always difficult first, but soon the results are beautiful. And when I said cut back down, I don't mean retreat, I mean cut the crisis down.

My mum used to say, life, is like a flower; how you do to life, is actually gardening (My mum told me this when she was snipping her roses). "See the rose here? It is dying, but I snip it off. Soon you will see three more roses growing from that point. Understand?"

I nodded.

To see beautiful things, you have to overcome ugly things. That's how life works. Even at the most beautiful thing, you can find something ugly on it.

"Just like a rose, the prettier it gets, the more pests it attracts. Do I have to snip the rose if there are pests? No. I just need to tick them off. No point destroying the rose just to prevent those pests."

I nodded again.

"Roses have thorns, they use them for defend and for climbing. You cannot stand alone forever in the world. You need some support and defence. Find a friend or someone else you think you can rely on and defend yourself and your support against threats. Roses are beautiful, but they don't do that without defend and support."

I nodded.



"Why do you like roses?" I asked mum.

"Because I love gardening," my mum replied.