“I am Groot” aka controlling what I can control
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When I returned to the office a couple of days after Mom’s funeral, I was greeted by a card on my desk. It was full of heartfelt notes. Sitting beside the card was a lovely succulent planter. It was a thoughtful gift from an old colleague and her business partner.
I took care of that plant. And I was going to keep it forever.
“I am Groot” aka “Then the pandemic hit.”
We didn’t think much about it, at first. Yeah, we were concerned about public health and knew that things could easily spiral more out of control. But when my workplace shut down, we thought it was only going to be for a few weeks. Once things returned to some kind of normal, we’d all return to the office and pick back up where we left off.
Well…I think we all know…
Thanks to the way the sun hits our office, it can get pretty warm. And with no one around to water my lovely succulent became an unexpected casualty of the pandemic.
Well, most of it anyway.
Ever wonder what a baked succulent looks like? It isn’t pretty.
I thought I had time. A lot of us did.
A brief aside…
Y’all know I’m a recovering preacher. Right?
Well, dear reader, here is where my inner preacher that I try to keep silent has been roaring to get out.* You see, my inner preacher wants to use this as an illustration of how nobody knows what tomorrow brings, the days are evil, so spend your energy redeeming the time because we’re all just a mist anyway – here on this earth for but a few moments.
That’ll preach. I know that’ll preach because I’ve preached it more than once. It’s one of my go-to messages (especially around February 29). I might have to dig through my archives and share a recording of one of those sermons. But not today. Because that’s not the point of this post.
But I digress…
“I am Groot” aka “Where was I?”
I assumed everything would be back to normal in a couple of weeks. We all did. And now my lovely succulent is a fully-baked disaster. “You know,” I thought to myself, “Maybe I can salvage them.” So I held out hope. I’ve given them adequate water without drowning them. I’ve given them the right amount of sunlight.
Nothin’.
Let’s get real. It would take some dry bones rattling type of Divine intervention in order for these dead, dried-out plants to show signs of life.
“I am Groot” aka “Burger Tuesdays”
In an attempt to make this whole virtual school and homeschool thing have some type of consistency, I try to make sure we have pizza for lunch on Fridays. On Tuesdays? Burgers. A few weeks ago, I didn’t feel like making burgers, so we hopped in the van, pulled into the McDonald’s drive-thru and got Mihret a Happy Meal. It came with a toy Groot. She didn’t really want it, but I did.
I mean, “I am Groot.” Who doesn’t love Groot? Especially “Baby” Groot…
So I took that Baby Groot and gave him a new home with my lovely destroyed succulent plants. And it is a beautiful thing.
I’ll eventually refresh these plants. I’ll get some new potting soil and I’ll buy some new succulents. But for now? I’m pretty OK with my setup.
“I am Groot” aka “My dad taught me that.”
Let’s not mince words. 2020 was nothing short of a dumpster fire.
As I think back over the conversations I’ve had with my dad during the pandemic (and the rest of my life, honestly), I’ve come to realize that when I placed Groot in my devastated-but-someday-restored collection of succulents, I put my dad’s advice into practice.
Control what you can control.
Dad
He may have only said this exact quote once or twice, but it’s one of those life lessons that he’s communicated over the years. And it’s pretty good advice. There’s no need to get worked up about things you can’t control. It doesn’t do any good. You can’t change those things, anyway.
Don’t waste your energy. Focus that energy on changing things you can change. This isn’t the same thing as “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” but it’s a similar vibe. Your impact is maximized when you focus on controlling the things you can control. When you lose focus on that, you wind up just spinning your wheels.
On the surface, this might sound defeatist. Kind of a “nothing really matters anyway” type of mindset. It really isn’t. In fact, it’s pretty empowering.
And dad has been the embodiment of this. It goes hand-in-hand with the calmness he exudes. I guess that’s why I’ve been able to pick it up over the years.
I mean, Jesus kind of said that too. Right?
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today. “
Jesus (Matthew 6: 34, NRSV)
OK, OK. I told my recovering inner preacher voice I wasn’t going to get preachy. And I’m not.
“I am Groot” aka “Spread good like confetti.”
That’s it. That’s the point. Focus on what you can do. Not on what you can’t do. Use that energy to make the most out of every opportunity presented before you. And do good. Because that’s definitely something you can control. And the world can use a little more good.
Let’s spread goodness like confetti. That’s definitely something we can control.
And I promise. I’ll share my “resurrected” succulents soon. In the meantime, Baby Groot’s going to keep my scorched succulents company.
Because “I am Groot.”
Endnotes
*I just discovered that I don’t have a photo of me in a pulpit. How did I let that happen? And how can I fix that?
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