The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns;
the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.
Kahlil Gibran
A grainy cell photo of a rose I once received, but still, a sweet rose which meant so much to me at the time. I love roses. I always have, ever since I was a little girl. There’s something about fresh flowers which touches my heart every time.
I am an optimist and I see the beauty in a rose ~ I acknowledge the thorns, but they don’t take away the beauty and perfection of the rose herself. I think people are like roses as well. Some are thornier than others. Some look perfect, yet have no fragrance. Some are fragrant, but like the photo above, aren’t perfectly colored. Me, I like the fragrant ones who aren’t perfectly colored ~ I guess I like a little imperfection in myself. I think it adds a bit of charm and character.
Who wants to be one of the crowd instead of calmly loving our own uniqueness?
I think that’s the key to a peaceful life ~ accepting ourselves and others for our whole rose and not wishing that the other person were less thorny or more fragrant or more perfectly formed with uniform color. To accept the rose for who she is and not to find her less attractive for her flaws. Instead, to hold her gently in your heart with loving kindness, patience and understanding.
I want you to know that like the rose, I see your beauty, flaws and all. I cherish your uniqueness. I applaud your fragrance and your thorns. I will hold your friendship in my heart and it will linger long after we have withered and I will wait for you to bloom again.
Shine On!
xo
Misifusa's Blog 
And your beauty is astounding my dear friend!! You have been on my mind so much lately. I am praying that you are healing …and THRIVING!! ❤ ❤
I am and I pray you are too dear Lorrie! Big hugs and love to you dear friend! ♥
Your loving light nurtures all those connected to you to bloom Yvonne and love flows right back to you.. ❤ xXx
Thank you Jane ~ and love freely flows to your spirit too! ♥
Wow, what a beautiful post. Roses are one of my favorite flowers, thorns and all 🙂 From this post, I can see you are a beautiful person.
Thank you for your kindness and for stopping by. It’s lovely to meet new people and to connect with others like you! We are all beautiful souls, don’t you think? ♥
What a lovely post — and analogy. Like you Yvonne, your words and photo shimmer with grace and love.
Shining with you my friend. Hugs
Louise, I love when we shine together! ♥ Sending you a heartfelt hug as always xo
I love this and the picture is beautiful. Such a sweet analogy to make of how to stay in the beauty of life and not get swept away by the prickly. Embracing it all makes for peace. Thank you.
Thank you for being here ~ I try to stay in the peace when I can and when I can’t, I work to get back to that presence of peace. ♥ I think we all try the best we can.
Imperfections are far more interesting!!! 😚
I HEARTily agree! ♥♥♥
This is beautiful Yvonne and I love that you kept this perfect Rose photo! It is sometimes hard to see past the thorns but when we do, we discover so much more. Thankyou. 🙂
Thank you Karen ~ I love when we discover the beauty and the thorns and we decide which one we want to give our attention to in this moment. I think life is full of thorns and beauty and we simply need to find the preciousness in each moment. ♥
Beautiful rose, lovely post. I grow roses…they are easy on the eye, it is in the caring and cherishing of them in the garden that you might find yourself scratched by the thorns…I think it is the same in life…if you love enough to care and cherish another, you might be wounded, but in the end, the bloom is prettier and more resilent.
Amen! You are so right! I love your analogy! ♥