Learn from the sunflower: stand tall even in dark times

Pay attention to the sunflowers and imitate their vital nature, the one that forces them to always seek sunlight to nourish themselves., to grow in beauty and strength. However, also remember that your true light is not found in a star that we all revolve around. Your true sun is inside you, so look for it, pay attention to it and follow its instinct.

The folklore built in many of our cultures around sunflowers is made up of components that are as interesting as they are magical. They are often associated with truth, honesty and loyalty.

It is also said that If at any time we have doubts about something, it is enough to pick a sunflower from the field just when dusk falls, and then place it under our pillow. This way when we wake up in the morning we will be clear about what we should do.

The legend of Clytie

This very positive nuance of sunflowers loses its intensity a little when we go to Greek mythology. According to classical legend, a young water nymph – named Clytie – fell madly in love with the god Apollo. and the light that it gave off every time it passed over it with its chariot of fire through the sky. She admired his strength and the beauty of him. However, the god never noticed her. He never paid attention to her.

The days passed, and the days were followed by months, and the months were succeeded by years… Until Clytie lost her nymph appearance to start putting down roots, to nestle into the ground and let petals the color of gold emerge from her beautiful face. Time and the loyalty of her fruitless love turned her into a sunflower, a beautiful creature dedicated only to following with her eyes the object of her impossible love: Apollo.

Sometimes, as this legend suggests, we focus our objectives and desires on impossible goals. Hence, we must be able to attend to and turn on that other light capable of guiding us much better: the one that sinks its roots inside us.

Be like sunflowers: the search for the best opportunities

Life takes many turnsthe same ones that sunflowers give on themselves following the light of the sun, fulfilling their magical nature based on phototropism.

Now, it is clear that People do not have that natural instinct inscribed in our DNA capable of propelling us towards that positivism.towards that horizon where new opportunities open up, the changes that will make us grow or the proposals that it is convenient to initiate to improve, to be happier.

So to speak, The human being must move every day in the middle of a field fertilized by the seeds of uncertainty and the weeds of fear. No external star guides us, therefore, we are almost forced to turn on an internal light with which to let ourselves be guided along paths where nothing is guaranteed, where nothing is safe or feasible.

Richard Wiseman, psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire and author of such interesting books as 59 seconds (think a little to change a lot) either The luck factor In the latter, he explains the importance of the internal emotional state when it comes to “attracting” or avoiding luck. Beyond there being a magical component, what there is in reality is a type of attitude and mental openness towards opportunities.towards those focuses where chance and even serendipity work in our favor.

You are your own luck: turn on your light

Elizabeth Nutt-Williams professor of psychology and researcher at St. Mary’s University in Maryland, conducted a very interesting study on the “luck” factor.. He was trying to discover what factors and what psychological characteristics define people who demonstrate a greater tendency to experience serendipity: those unexpected strokes of luck that we often link to the force of fate or even magical thinking.

It could be shown, for example, that These profiles linked to luck score higher in openness, resilience, and problem solving., positivism, self-confidence, innovation and creativity. Likewise, they have lower scores in neuroticism or the tendency to experience negative emotional states such as anxiety, anger, guilt or rage.

We could conclude from this that to be our own luck and turn on that light, which like a lighthouse must guide us towards authentic well-being and adequate personal satisfaction, It is necessary to approach life from a more relaxed perspective.

Let’s avoid being like the nymph Clytie, who, no matter how poetic her story may seem at first, is a clear example of someone who focused all her energy, emotions and vitality on an impossible task. Let’s be those sunflowers, that made of light, positivism, joy and trust, are capable of lighting their own path: the one that will lead us to real happiness.

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Images courtesy of Veronica Minozzi