HOW DO THE FLOWERS KNOW? By Pennie Hunt

This week I cleaned out many of my flowerpots. Although a few marigolds are hanging in there, even they are looking like they are ready to give up. Most of the flowers were straggly and tired. The blooms were shriveling, the stems were long and laying in the dirt, and there were no new flower buds in sight.

It was time.

As I filled my compost bin with the worn plants I began to wonder how they knew. How do flowers know when fall is coming? We have had an unusually hot summer. The temperatures are still ranging in the hotter-than-normal area. It hasn’t been very cool at night. How do they know when it is time to give up and concede that cold weather is coming?

Of course I had to research this. It seems that plants know fall is coming by using internal circadian clocks to sense changes in the length of daylight and the temperature. When they sense this, it signals buds to harden, leaves to turn yellow and drop off, and growth is paused for the coming winter.

So even though we continue to have fairly warm weather, the shorter days are signaling to my flowers that their time to bloom is over. Change is coming.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could tell when change is coming in our lives?

Sometimes change comes out of the blue. It hits us with no warning. No time to prepare. But, for most change, I believe we do know when it is coming. If we are paying attention.

If our job is coming to an end, we typically hear rumors of layoffs, downsizing, or restructuring. There are signs.

If a relationship is coming to an end we may believe it came out of the blue, but did it really? In hindsight there were probably subtle hints and indications of trouble. There were signs.

During our life there is a natural progression of change. Childhood to adolescence. Graduation typically means you are entering into adulthood. Then with birthdays come aging. With each progression there are signs.

Change can be difficult. We may be shocked by it, be angry at it, deny that it is happening, and even try to run away from it. No matter what our reaction is, change is going to happen in life.

I believe the happiest, healthiest people are the ones that accept and adapt to change. Yes, it may catch us off guard, but most of the time if we are watching we will see signs. Our intuition tells us when a change is coming. There is a reason you hear terms like, ‘my gut feeling, inner knowing, or hunches.”

It is because our minds, hearts, and bodies pick up on these knowings. Our body gives us signs when things feel off or are not quite right. When change is coming, there are signs. We may not be able to stop change, but we can learn to accept and adapt.

And yes, our human circadian clocks are picking up on the signs of fall. The air smells a little fresher. The days are getting shorter. Conversations include talk about sweater weather and pumpkin spice. And yes, it is time to clean out the flowerpots.
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                                                       Pennie’s Life Lesson:
​                 Pay attention to the signs of change. And then, accept and adapt. 
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YOUR TURN...        
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