Lessons From A Sunflower: To Always Turn To The Light
We can learn things from sunflowers and try to imitate their instinct to always turn to the light to be nourished and grow big and beautiful. But also remember that your true sun is not a star you orbit; instead it is within you, see look for, pay attention and follow its instinct.
The folktales about sunflowers are in many cultures interesting and magical. They are often associated with honesty, truth and loyalty. It is also said that if you are in doubt about something, you just need to take a sunflower at sunset and put it under the pillow. When you wake up will always be clear and distinct.
However, this positive version is taking a turn for the worse in Greek mythology. According to a classic legend, the young water nymph Clytia fell hopelessly in love with the sun god Helios and the light he radiated every time he passed her. She admired his strength and beauty, but he never noticed her.
Days became months and months to years, until Clytia lost her nymph-flapping appearance and began to take root. She clung to the ground and gold-colored leaves grew out of her beautiful face.
The time and loyalty associated with her unrequited love turned her into a sunflower – a beautiful creature whose sole purpose was to follow the gaze of her impossible love: Helios.
Sometimes we focus our gaze and desire on impossible goals, which the legend tries to explain. That is why we must pay attention and turn on the light within us, which is better at guiding us than external ones.
Life takes many turns, just as sunflowers turn to follow the light of the sun and fulfill their natural magic. But it is clear that man does not have a natural instinct to always turn to the light inscribed in his DNA.
We do not naturally gravitate towards new opportunities, changes that make us grow, initiatives that make us better and happier.
Every day we have to move through fields sown with seeds of uncertainty and weeds of fear. There is no pole star to lead us, so we are almost obliged to turn to our inner light for guidance where nothing is guaranteed, obvious or practical.
Richard Wiseman – a psychologist from the University of Hertfordshire and author of interesting books such as 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot and Luck or Bad Luck: Four Principles That Give You Luck – explains in the latter how important one’s emotional state is to attract or repel luck.
Rather than magic, it’s just a mental attitude and being open to new possibilities; for the rays of light where opportunity and even fate can work in our favor.
Elizabeth Nutt Williams – Professor of Psychology and Researcher at St. Mary’s College of Maryland – conducted a very interesting study on “luck” as a factor.
She tried to describe the factors and characteristics that define people who show a higher tendency to have fate on their side – the unexpected fortunes we so often associate with fate or even magic.
She demonstrated, for example, that people who seem lucky had higher scores in openness, resilience, problem solving, positivity, self-confidence, innovation and creativity. They also received lower scores in neuroticism, anxiety, guilt and anger.
From this we can conclude that in order to create your own turn you must turn on your inner light and let it guide you towards personal satisfaction and well-being like a lighthouse – you should therefore always turn to the light you radiate.
Let us avoid being like Clytia, who despite her poetic narrative was a clear example of someone who focused all her energy and all her emotions on an impossible dream. She turned to the light, but it was a light that was not meant for her.
Let us be like sunflowers, made of light, positivity, happiness, self-confidence and the ability to illuminate our own paths. It will guide us to true happiness.
