Appreciating the Roots
The roots of a vegetable are not pretty or glamourous. They do not take top billing in a vegetable advertisement. They are not the thing to showcase when wanting to attract buyers to the food. Yet, below the ground the roots become the most important part of the plant. They are the transportation systems between the nutrients in the ground and the plant at the surface. Without the roots the vegetable would not survive.
"Without the roots the vegetable would not survive."
It’s strange how something that is paramount for the vegetable’s survival is treated like waste once the vegetable leaves the soil. Being a root can’t be an easy life. It’s a life of hard work with very little fanfare or reward. As long as the roots are doing their job, they are ignored and taken for granted.
Dirt seen instead of the root
The first thing noticed when looking at the roots of a plant pulled from the soil is the dirt. And because of this dirt, the roots are often assumed to be the waste product of the plant. The thing you cut off of the plant, before displaying the vegetable on the pretty setups of glamour in order to win over hearts of the buyers.
When people look at a garden they remark about the grandness of the vegetable while the roots go unnoticed unless they are sick and threaten the vegetable by the disease they carry. Even then, the concern still remains about the wellbeing of the plant, the vegetable, while blaming the root.
Are you noticing the roots or the plant?
Do we act like this in our daily lives? Judging people by their surface appearance while ignoring the inner roots? Assuming that the aesthetic of the person is all that matters. It is very easy to be a critic. To blame everyone else for the problems in our lives. To assume that if we cut off the people that are dirty and unglamorous that life will be better. Without realizing that if we do that, then we find out exactly how important the roots were to our lives.
What about the gardens in our lives? Do we only focus on ourselves and forget how important the people are that make up our roots? That made us the person we are today. Maybe it was a teacher or a parent or a friend or a relative or a spouse. Someone who brought us exactly what we needed when we needed it without expecting thanks or rewards. Find the roots in your life and thank them for the support they gave you. For without those roots, you would not be who are you are today.