Sometimes in life, it seems as if things have to fall apart for others to come together. Often it’s these moments that give birth to new opportunities, and if we aren't paying careful attention, we may miss them altogether. See, that’s the funny thing about opportunity. “It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.” (Napoleon Hill in Think And Grow Rich, page 20). This is no doubt the reason why most neglect to behold the window of possibility that presents itself in the face of adversity.
...My name is Giles and this the story of how Colibri Folk Remedies came to be from a hobby to a business...
I can remember 6 months ago now, getting the property I had been working on bush hogged after months of opening up space and making room for development. It was an exciting time indeed. I was still beyond optimistic that if I could just get a head start on the maintenance of the 10 or so acres of old, overgrown cow pasture, that I could keep it up by myself. It hadn’t fully dawned on me just how daunting of a task I was attempting to undertake. Trying to go back over 10 acres of field with a push mower following its recent clearing with a bush hog is next to impossible. Except for, impossible wasn’t part of my vocabulary. Nevertheless, many months and about ten push mowers later I was facing inevitable defeat. It was only when I tore up 3 mowers in a matter of 3 days that I finally reached the point of giving up. Yet it was in that disappointment that I was able to let go of my obsession to keep up with the land long enough to shift my focus to something much more fun and rewarding.
Everyone who knows me at all will attest that when I put my mind to something, I am unstoppable. With the momentum of a freight train I go after whatever it is I set my heart on. As I began my impractical task of keeping up with the property maintenance, I soon noticed how many wild flowers were growing everywhere! Flowers I had never seen before and were not familiar with. The first one that stuck out to me was Passionflower, one of the most (if not the most) beautiful flowers I ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. It almost didn't seem real to me. How was it I had never seen one before?
As the weeks went by and I cut the grass, I started to come across them in my immediate pathway. This almost instantly induced conflicting feelings within me, as it just seemed wrong to mow down such beautiful creations…I decided, after finding out that they were edible, that I would eat them as I came up on them and enjoy them so fully, that they're life was not lost in vain. This soon proved to be a ridiculous idea because of just how many of them were blossoming. Each morning there were anywhere from 30-50 new blooms. After the first couple days of eating Passionflowers and making tea with them I thought there had to be more that I could do with them. I called my partner up and explained the situation to which she replied, "Why don't we make some flower essences with them?". Soon after it was off to the races.
Each day, whilst cutting grass, I would stop and commune with the flowers that came across my path, asking for permission to harvest them for medicine and give their lives even more meaning. What started out as a hobby quickly became much, much more. As the days passed and it got increasingly harder to cut the grass without completely destroying the mowers, it became clear to me that the universe had other plans for me...so after falling just short of what was supposed to be the last cut of the year, I submitted defeat and accepted that making this medicine was where I needed to be focusing my relentless drive. The rest is part of the story that I am currently living.
So when things seem to be working against you or not going the way you planned, take a deep breath, remember that things are always working out for you and consider that maybe...just maybe what appears to be a failure, is really just a blessing/opportunity in disguise. 🤠💙🌸🌼🌺🏵💮
Credits and Thank you's:
All photos/videos are original and my own documentation of this story.
Thank you @SpencerCoffman for taking the time to make a post on how to make introduction posts. This has been very helpful and informative. After watching your videos and trying to meet all the criteria to make a great post, I think I have done well.
Thank you @algimantas for taking the time to make a post about how to add a video into your post. That wasn't hard at all!
Thank you each and every one of you Steemians for taking the time to read and upvote this post! I look forward to being a part of this community and providing quality content. I look forward to telling my story as it progresses. I look forward to sharing the information and knowledge that I have, whilst learning all the way.
"So, thanks to all at once and to each one" (Shakespeare in MacBeth, Final Scene)