In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, I joined the bandwagon of gardening. I bought some plants discerning they would be beautiful on my front porch or the bedroom window.

Bamboo vines, roses, sunflowers, palm trees, and a lot more! I even read in online sites on gardening, asked friends for advice on gardening, and even bought gardening tools. Despite my wholehearted efforts, still some of them did not survive. Maybe, I just don’t have a magical green thumb.

One day, I took my friend’s suggestion and got a cactus and some indoor plants. Cactus and most indoor plants are prickly plant with some broad leaves that can survive with little water. A few weeks later, all of what I bought were alive and well and were now propagating!

My love for cactuses and indoor plants taught me some life lessons:

Indoor plants and cactus grow in the most adverse conditions like deserts or dry lands. It stocks water inside and uses it to endure different challenging situations.

A cactus even guards itself from herbivores using its bristles or spikes. Some cactuses bloom after a few years, while others might take up to 35 to 70 years before they have their first bloom.

My lovely plants may not look pretty but they are like humans. The indoor plants and cactus remind me of the significance of these physiognomies, flexibility, determination, and persistence.

What we are experiencing right now is like the life of a cactus and indoor plants. The general population in our country lost their jobs due to economic crisis; this has led financial instability, family problems and more. Many Filipinos now are like in a dry, dark, doom situation, but our resiliency remain intact with our hopes to pass this pandemic and be the strongest plants in the Garden of Eden, that even with little resources we still can survive.

Now, I choose to be a cactus in a world full of delicate flowers. I am not just a Filipino, but I am a woman of excellence.

By: Mrs. Lorna S. Macaday|Teacher III|Alternative Learning System, Olongapo City