Flourish

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BY: T. Franklin Murphy | December 2017 (edited June 10, 2022)

Two hands holding an image of the world with a tree growing from it. A Flourishing Life Society article on flourishing

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We flourish when our environment accommodates growth. We can transcend our current situations by improving our environment.

Living organisms have a knack for survival. We absorb the punches and continue. Survival is our badge of courage, displaying perseverance and remarkable resiliency. Environments can be harsh and unforgiving—but we adapt and survive. The applause sounds loud for the miracle of life. All life isn’t the same; some struggle for a single bloom while others constantly explode in color—they flourish.

We should proudly display the beauty whether we display the purity of a single morning glory or the heavily weighted branches of a gaudy rose bush. Our blooms share our liveliness and blessings. The flourishing life isn’t expressed through accumulating successes but from our relationship with life.

"'Who do you think you are?' That's the big one, isn't it? A flourishing life depends on how you answer that."
Robert Fulghum

We influence our environment but don’t control it. The surrounding unknown circumstances impact our growth in many positive and negative ways. We hamper our openness to experience if we under value the complexity of the encircling world and the unpredictableness of complex system contributing to life.

We are challenged to exploit what we know and explore the depths of what we don’t, curiously gaining deeper appreciation for the living process of birth, growth, decline and death. Even the abundantly decorated rose eventually droops, dropping its beautiful petals to the rich soil beneath.

Key Definition:

Flourishing is thriving, fulfilling our potential in grand fashion.

Flourishing Follows Natural Laws

Flourishing happens within the natural boundaries of existence, extracting nutrients and resources from the surrounding environment and translating them into internal growth. Environments also contain toxins. Our relationships, employments, economies and governments provide a mixture of blessings and curses, sustenance and poison; not evenly divided or fairly distributed. This is the world we live in and the conditions of our independent and collective battles. These are the natural laws that we must respect in our quest to flourish.

"Natural laws (order) govern the functions of the universe. The laws apply to life in the universe. Laws create predictability. Acting within the laws grants an associated blessing. Unfortunately, living isn’t always predictable even though life is governed by laws" (Murphy, 2017).

The stubborn Morning Glory, fighting terrible odds for existence, represents our human quest for flourishing more than the most dazzling rose. We can't judge our success against the successes or failures of others. What we receive, and what hinders varies dramatically from individual to individual.

"No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear, or hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now."
Alan Watts

I stand in awe when a child of meager emotional and material support, breaks through barriers and blooms. This is the grandest achievement of humanity. In their success, I find hope.

We don’t feign health if health doesn’t exist but we also shouldn’t shamefully bow our heads when our mere survival is a magnificent accomplishment of human flourishing. So, we move forward, carefully approaching and wisely withdrawing, engaging life on its terms but responding on our terms, developing a resilient and skilled self to balance difficulty with pleasure, and knowledge with ignorance. We flourish.

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T. Franklin Murphy

Wellness. Writer. Researcher.
T. Franklin Murphy has a degree in psychology. He tirelessly researches scientific findings that contribute to wellness. In 2010, he began publishing his findings.