Be Like Cyperus

Not planning it at all, I found myself taking the course Plant Biology. But mind you, there are no regrets. When I was a child, I have an extreme fascination with plants. We had these small plots of vegetables back then of pechay (cabbage), mustasa (mustard), and labanos (raddish). Every day, I would water them, remove weeds, and check whether the labanos' root has grown. The smell of petrichor from the soil, those bright green vegetable leaves, and the excitement of harvesting them in the future contribute to why those days are one of the best days of my life.

I love the wild. Plants are part of this wilderness. Of nature. The soft rustling of leaves, the scent of flowers and grasses, the branches of trees, and many others…tell stories in silence. The rustling of leaves tells us that its friend, the wind, has come to visit and play. The scent of flowers and grasses reminds us of blurred memories, sometimes forgotten, that when we were once a child, we had come and stayed with them to play. The branches of trees whisper to passersby that they have grown and experienced a lot so much and things are no longer as simple as they were before. Nature tells stories in silence so loud that we become deaf. That is why we need to stop for a while, stare for a short moment, and try to listen.

One of my favorite plants is a grass called Cyperus, sometimes known under its common name: Sedge. You might be wondering why grass of all plants? I could have chosen a rose, an orchid, or any of those popular, expensive, and extremely colorful flowering plants…but why grass?

They are just stepped on, ignored, plucked off, mowed, burned, trampled, and eaten by herbivores—generally, grasses look so unimportant that the world seems to move on even without them.

Exactly. Those are also the reasons why I love them so much.

Despite being looked down upon, ignored, burned, etc…Cyperus triumphs. Cyperus and other grasses have grown so resistant to environmental stresses that they can easily survive, multiply, and live their lives since they are extremely difficult to eliminate or kill.  Because Cyperus suffers a lot, physically and emotionally (‘coz I believe plants can feel), they have developed these adaptations toward the harsh environment.

Instead of giving up because it feels too much, they chose instead to fight until they found ways to survive. And now, where are they? We can see grasses wherever we go. Because they have survived, they have also lived.

Be like a grass. Be like Cyperus. If life throws you off balance, don’t just allow yourself to remain slumped over. Stand up! Find ways to fight back. Learn how to live despite your imperfections, of the world’s cruelties. It will definitely require long hard work, but the end result is always sweet, so why not start working for it?

Life doesn’t bring you down because it wants you to feel defeated, worthless, or stupid. Life brings us down because it wants us to be stronger. And we only become a better version of ourselves once we passed that stage where we blame the world for forcing us to choose to give up. It’s not the world’s fault that you gave up. It’s yours. And that’s not the way to win, for when you give up, you lose. 

Winning or losing is a matter of choice. Choices entail other elements like hard work, perseverance, trust in yourself, and many others. That’s why it is not always so easy to choose, but you must choose anyway and ensure it’s the choice you will not regret. 

Living our life means we have adapted like a Cyperus. It means we survived. We won. So live your life. But survive first. It depends on you entirely. You are in control. You are the pirate who has gained the right to sail a ship. You are the bird who has realized the use of wings. You are you. You are enough. You can do it. You can live your life to the fullest despite those downs you’ve suffered and will encounter in the future.

All you need is to BELIEVE; once you do, all things become possible.