Look for the Cracks in the Pavement

By Christine Murray

A few months ago, I stumbled across these flowers poking through the cracks in a large parking lot.

I've always loved seeing flowers bloom in hard places. For me, it's a powerful reminder that even amidst tough situations, we can usually find cracks in the surface of our challenges. These cracks become places where we can grow, find positivity, and move toward a brighter picture than we might see at first glance.

When I see a flower growing in the pavement or some other hard place, I pause and think about everything that had to happen for that flower to bloom. First, there had to be at least a tiny amount of soil hidden within that crack. Then, a seed had to somehow land right in the middle of the crack and have enough sunshine and water to grow.

This reminds me that in the middle of difficult circumstances, growth doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and a lot of different factors coming together to make growth possible. While wildflowers growing in the cracks of a parking lot might seem like a happy accident, when we find ourselves in hard times, we can look to these resilient flowers for inspiration.

These flowers help us see the potential for creating something beautiful and positive, even in the middle of our hardest times. They remind us that we can look for symbolic cracks in the pavement—possible openings for us even when surrounded by tough circumstances.

Life can be complicated and challenging. I’ve been through my fair share of challenges, and it's not easy to go through difficult times. Sometimes we wish we could wave a magic wand and make our problems disappear. While we can take steps to cope, practice self-care, and navigate our emotions, sometimes positive changes just take time, and we might feel stuck in all sorts of challenging circumstances.

We might face financial challenges, stress at work, relationship and family problems, a sense of loneliness, or a lack of clarity about our purpose. It's natural to feel overwhelmed when it seems like hard times are all around. 

Keeping flowers that grow in the pavement in mind can inspire and motivate us to keep looking for and embracing the positive “cracks” in our situation—places where we can grow and bloom, even in difficult times. Here are a few ways to search for and take advantage of the cracks in the pavements of life:

1. Remember that cracks and openings for growth aren't always neat and pretty. If you ever see flowers growing in a parking lot, they are usually in random spots. The flowers in the picture I shared above were in the middle of some parking spaces, making it even more incredible that they continued to grow despite cars likely driving over them every day. Opportunities for growth during challenging times can appear in unexpected places. Keep an open mind because positive opportunities for growth might show up where you least expect them.
2. Acknowledge and process negative emotions, while also creating conditions for growth. For flowers to bloom in the parking lot, there has to be enough soil, water, and sunshine. While this happens naturally for flowers growing randomly in a parking lot, we can actively create conditions for growth in our lives during difficult times. This might involve seeking counseling, practicing regular self-care, learning new things, and engaging in mindfulness. While there's no guarantee that growth will happen exactly how and when we want, setting up these conditions puts us in the best position for growth. 
3. Remember that growth doesn't necessarily make hard things go away. When flowers bloom in the middle of a parking lot, they don't transform the pavement into a field of flowers. There’s still a lot of hard stuff around them. Similarly, while we can hope for changes in our circumstances, we can still find beauty and growth amidst the challenges. Appreciating growth, learning, and connection in hard times can be more meaningful and impactful because of the difficulties we face.

If you’re blooming amidst difficult circumstances or working to create conditions for growth, look for opportunities to appreciate your growth, be patient with the process, and celebrate your progress along the journey.