A beautiful warm morning, I woke up demotivated to hurry to work. All I really wanted was to lay in my comfortable bed because it seemed as though the day would have a few showers, making it more cooler.

I called Monica, my manager, and I told her I wasn’t coming in because I was sick (yes I lied, I know but I didn’t regret it). After that intense phone call I heard a knock on the door, it was the delivery. I chuckled in disbelief, continuously asking if the flowers were really mine and was reassured that they were mine. I signed for them and closed the door. It was warmer that day.

I stared at those natural-smelling flowers, full of life, so yellow, so motivating. They came with a card but before I opened it, I first thought of who would be so generous enough to send me such beautiful flowers on such a gloomy and sad day. I wondered and wondered, until of course I opened the letter. Well, I should’ve expected that it was from my boyfriend Sthembiso, oh what a great gesture.

I picked up my phone, went on WhatsApp and I messaged him, telling him how grateful I am for the flowers. Shortly after I created a vase for them (I didn’t keep vases in my house so I had to make one from an old juice bottle) I put them in the sunroom. There was hardly sun in that room but it definitely made it glow and it made me feel better immediately, the smell, its appearance, absolutely stunning!

I woke up the next morning demotivated yet again. Something about that morning was as good as receiving a cute morning text, I walked directly to the sunroom and I did my morning meditation there. It was three hours until I had to go work but all I did was sit directly in front of these flowers, hoping I could be just as they are – beautiful.

Everyone looks beautiful but actually, how many actually feel beautiful? Feeling beautiful is as essential as needing water, it builds confidence. I thought of all that while looking at those flowers.

“These flowers are my escape, something fragile… something special,” I said. After completing my meditation I got up to go take a shower, feeling motivated. I hurried over to work.

I got to work and I decided to get ready for the amount of work delegated to me. I was so happy and it showed, I felt so much better.

“You look different today, Lindi, you’d swear you weren’t sick,” my manager had such awkward ways of giving compliments, but that one really made me smile. I was so happy that day I couldn’t have waited to go home.

I finally got home and there were my little escapes. I watered them and sat right beside them and told them how my day went, and it made me very happy. I wondered how my boyfriend could’ve possibly figured out how I needed these flowers to change my outlook on myself and life in general. Or was it a genuine great gesture? I’m grateful for these flowers till today, they are really special to me that I’ve started growing them in my garden.

Who would’ve thought flowers could change me?