Empowering Others
My wife and I run a floral business in
the mountains of Colorado. We grow and sell flowers along with creating floral
arrangements for weddings and occasions. In the past few years more people in
our community have shown an interest in growing and arranging flowers for their
livelihood. With our history of producing beautiful flowers, many people have
reached out to us for our wisdom and guidance on how to succeed as a flower
farmer.
In the past we may have remained silent, having the false belief that if we show others how to grow flowers, they will take business away from us. This mindset has changed over the past few years. Rather than fear them as competition, we encourage them by answering their questions and supplying the information needed for success.
This seems counterintuitive, but why hold back in the first place? Isn’t life about encouraging and empowering others to be the best they can be? How would the world be different if we supported those around us rather than discouraged others because we were afraid of their success?
Have you ever had the experience of going through a life event with another person, only to have completely different memories of what happened? This is what we learned with sharing our flower growing wisdom. Every future flower farmer we advise will have different growing circumstances. They’ll choose different flower varieties, different colors, and have different ideas of how growing flowers should be accomplished. This means no flower farming experience will be alike.
One of the things my wife and I have learned is it is more beneficial to be excited for the success of others than it is to remain silent. Everyone sees the world differently and will react to the world from their point of view. That’s the exciting part, seeing the positive growth from how other people tackle the issues they face every day.
If we were to view other flower farmers as competition, we would be limiting our ability to create a supportive community. We have come to accept that if they succeed at their business then the community will succeed as well.
If we have learned anything over the past year it is that life can change in an instant. If we choose to withhold our support for the dreams of others, what are we really doing? Why behave this way? Just because we cannot see the dreams of others as clearly as they see their dreams doesn’t mean we should discourage them. Look around to recognize all the things that one person thought would benefit the world, yet many doubted their dream.
What would happen if we encouraged those around us to be the best they can be? Empowering them to pursue a passion or an idea that may not fit the mainstream? If we create our world through our thoughts and actions, what kind of world could we create if we empowered others to take the chance to pursue their dreams?
The past year has taught us that the time to empower each other to be the best versions of who we are is now. This would involve challenging old outdated ways of thinking, and behaving. But the future we want to create will be found by empowering ourselves and others to look beyond our self-inflected limitations. Self-inflicted, because we often believe the opinions of those who have never tried to change, and we think our self-doubt is true.
Clearing our mind of the thought of failure and silencing our negative self-talk, we can then allow a different way of seeing the world, a world of possibilities, not a world of limitations. This will empower us to encourage others, and they will encourage us. The emotional support we will receive from empowering others will come from a place of love.
Is it our fear, insecurities, and our self-doubt that prevents us from encouraging others? It could be, but if we are hesitant to encourage others then we must look within ourselves and ask why. If I want other flower farmers to succeed, I must be comfortable with the life I am living and trust I am growing flowers to the best of my ability. I may just learn something in the process.
Isn’t that the point, to help people live a life that far exceeded any expectations set by others or themselves? How wonderful would it be to see a loved one or a friend realize a dream they once thought impossible? They succeeded because we had the courage to look past our own self-doubt and encouraged them to follow their gut and pursue their dreams.
One of the great things about having other flower farmers in our community is we now sell flowers to each other. We all grow different varieties, and colors, and at times our flowers may not be ready to pick, while their flowers are in bloom. This way we support each other, all because we move away from our fear of competition and instead choose to empower others to follow their dreams.
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How do you empower others?
Let me know what you think, I’m always open to exploring the subject further. Leave a comment, or question below, or email me at paulhudonauthor@gmail.com I’d enjoy hearing from you.
My book, “A Complete Life, Discovering Your Authentic Self”, is moving along nicely through the formatting process. I should have a release date in a few weeks. I’ll keep you posted as to when it will be available.
To purchase a copy of my book, “Your Inner Guidance, The Path to Discovering Your True Happiness,” and you live in my area, you can buy it at Salida Books in Salida, or The Book Nook in Buena Vista. Or reach out to me, I’ll even sign it for you.
Or, you can also buy it through Amazon, as an eBook or paperback, by clicking on the link. Please feel free to leave a review.
Each week I email an article to those who have subscribed to my weekly. This week I wrote about our circle of friends who help us through life. Here is an excerpt.
If all we want is to be around people who say yes to our every word, then where is the growth? As I look over my life, I can see times when the people around me forced me to take a good long look at my behavior. This self-evaluation initiated a few life changing habits. If I had been surrounded by “yes-men” there would not have been any reason to change
If you would like to read this post or
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article titled, “The Journey”
I recently had a wonderful conversation and a few laughs, with Brett Wilson of Mountain Zen Den, www.mountainzenden.com. We talked about the importance of an intuitive feeling, and how journaling helped me discover my inner voice. Below is the link to our conversation.
Brett and his wife Melissa, use nature as a way to help people on their journey for personal growth, and self-development. Check out their website and podcasts for inspiration.
https://www.mountainzenden.com/?p=2010&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=2013
I’m fortunate to write a monthly column for Conscious Shift Magazine. This month you can find my article, “The Band”. Click the link to read more.
https://consciousshiftcommunity.com/the-band/
Check out Conscious Shift Magazine as a great resource for guidance and inspiration.
If you would like to follow me on social media, click on the link to find your favorite platform.
Thank you for reading this post, and being a part of this wonderful adventure called life. I appreciate your support.
Peace and Well-Being, Paul
Copyright Paul Hudon 2022
Encouragement is a divine gesture. Self-confidence leads to pure potentiality that can make the mountain move into the sea.
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