"They all look so pretty," he proclaimed. "But they are all the same," he added as he started to walk away.
"I'm not the same," said a little high pitched voice. And as the man turned back to the red roses, he saw one of them swaying, despite there being no breeze.
"Who are you," he asked. And the red rose replied, "I'm Evelyn. And I'm different."
"You are different," said the man, "Because you can speak."
"But that's not what makes me different," answered Evelyn. "I'm different because my petals are unique to me. No other rose has this mix of red colors and no other rose has my alignment of petals and no other rose can sway as I do."
The man stared at Evelyn and realized what she said is true. She is unique.
Just then another voice arose. "I'm not the same," it said. "I'm Leila, and no other red rose stands as tall and upright as I do. And no other rose in this garden has lived as long."
And then another voice spoke up. "I'm Charlie," it said. "And no other rose has my scent or can attract so many butterflies."
The man was amazed. For only a few moments before, what he thought was but a sea of red roses, none different from one another, was in fact a large collective of individual red roses, each unique.
Then he thought of humanity and himself. "Are we not as people, each unique? Are we not all longing to have others discover in us what makes us each unique? Are we not in the process of discovering that in ourselves?"
The man knelt down in front of the red roses and caressed each one individually and he said what he would now say to people he he would get to know, "Thank you for being you. I appreciate the beauty that is you. You are special and unique in all the world."
Author Unknown
This inspired piece and edits were received on 10/2/14 at 11:55 am and it was in part inspired by a different flower story told on YouTube by renowned speaker, author and professor Leo a Buscaglia (1924 - 1998).
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