flower pot.

The lesson of patience is not one that is easily learned. If I was to teach it to a child, or even an adult, I would have no idea where to begin. But my mother knew. She always does. Patience to her, came in the form of dirt, of seeds, of water, and of a flower pot. "Pick which kind of seed you'd like to grow," she said to me, pointing toward the kitchen table. There were what seemed like a hundred different packets all sprawled out where we usually eat dinner in the evenings. There were orange packets, pink packets, square packets, rectangular packets, some packets that were already ripped open, spilling their contents out onto the battlefield of the table top. How would I ever choose?! There was no way that these little, dried up pellets would turn into such magnificent flowers as were shown on their packages. I chose a daisy seed. We filled the flower pot with dirt, planted the seed, and watered it. Mom put it on the windowsill so that it could get some sun. I sat on the countertop in the kitchen and watched the unmoving dirt. Any minute now, I thought to myself, it'll grow into a beautiful daisy. But it didn't, and it wasn't. I was so impatient that I couldn't eat my dinner that night, angry that the flower was refusing to show its face. It was driving me absolutely bonkers, but Mom just smiled. For days I'd rush out of bed and run down the stairs to the window to see if it had grown overnight, but there was never any evidence of it. Maybe it had run away while I was dreaming. I took to watering it whenever it looked remotely dry, and rotating it on the windowsill to ensure an even plant sun tan. I even sang to it, and coaxed it along with words of (what seemed like to a six year old,) wisdom and enlightenment. My head was about to explode. My confidence was shot. My patience had run out within the 10 minutes after I had planted the stupid thing. Then, one morning, as I came casually strolling down the stairs, (I'd given up running because there was no use, it wasn't going to grow,) I looked down at my little flower pot, and lo! behold: a sprout! A tiny spec of green within the ocean of dirt! Suddenly, it was all worth it. That green spec created in me the most excitement that I had ever felt. That was my plant, I planted it, and I waited for it to sprout. Good things come to those who wait - lesson learned.