Human beings have this wonderful gift that other species don’t have – the ability to develop a keen insight into the remote past and the future, the realization of reality, and the ability to find solutions to practical and theoretical problems. But, not every human being understands and explores these capabilities. For many of us, we have reached the end of our creative abilities. Even, we find it hard to understand ourselves let alone bring the change for a better life.

The moment human beings develop insight and understand the abilities they possess, everything changes. Though it is a beautiful journey, the journey of transformation itself is a daring and challenging one. Life is a big challenging game, where we face failures and successes along the way. But, most of the challenges that we face in our life affect our mental health in ways that we often don’t understand. We often struggle with various mental health issues such as anxiety, stress, depression, isolation, and suicidal ideation. Such mental issues can have a dangerous impact on our lives and can even lead to harmful actions.

To deal with these mental health issues, we have to learn to embrace the idea of transformation and the glory of that transformation is similar to that of a lotus flower. The lotus flower is deep-rooted in the mud and scum inside the ponds. To grow itself, it has to make its way from the murky water and break the surface. Once it breaks the surface, it comes out all beautiful and gloomy on the outside. This process is referred to as the symbol of purity, rebirth, triumph, and enlightenment.

“Even with roots in the dirtiest water, the lotus grows into a beautiful flower.”

It is said and believed that the transformation of the lotus flower is just like the spiritual journey of transformation of a human being. When in a deep crisis or distressing situation where nothing makes sense, a person can become hopeless and depressed. But just like a lotus flower, human beings have also this capability of growing out from the most distressing events and turn out to be all better and happier.

The journey of the lotus flower from the muddy seed to the glorious blossom gives us the hope that we can grow from the sufferings no matter how painful those sufferings were, we can still become eventually beautiful and happy. It is the journey of each of us when we face the saddest and most tragic moments of our lives and still get up to live with honor and glory. This is what lotus flower represents – hope and courage!

We must never give up ourselves because of something bad that just happened. Instead, we must take this example of the lotus flower to realize that we also possess this ability to grow even after suffering. There is always a ray of sunshine and hope in our lives no matter how hard we have fallen. We all can still bloom and become better people out of whatever crisis (or muddy waters) we come across. Proper mental health care is available to help get you there!

Written by Rida Farhat

Edited by Tracie Stewart