Very nice. Must be fake

 I was probably amongst the worst gardeners in the world. I would inadvertently destroy the plants while trying to take care of them.

I couldn't understand what was wrong, until a friend with a beautiful garden inspired me and explained that it was my over enthusiasm that was killing off my plants.

I have since learnt that plants are like children. They can be both strong and yet fragile. They need just the right amount of care, too little and they are in trouble and too much and they are in serious trouble.

Plants need food, water and sunlight, too little or too much and they wilt and then usually perish.

Yet each species has its own requirements and if we want to care for them we need to understand them. So it is with children, each one is different and has to be handled to some extent in a general manner and to a greater extent differently. 

One day during a lunch get-together, a friend was leaning back against the sideboard and inadvertently on the blooming Anthurium plant. I cautioned my friend that were he to lean back any further, he would damage the plant . He quickly apologised, saying, "Sorry, the plant looks so beautiful, I thought it was fake." He immediately became respectful of the plants when he learnt that all the plants were real.

I realised, we humans are just like plants, the fakes look so perfect we have little or no respect for them. While the genuine may possess flaws it appears rich.

Fake people have to learn the art of flaunting whatever little they have, or even conjure up what they do not possess. I would estimate that half of all education, marketing and consulting businesses go towards creating a fake reality in an attempt to fool others.

We can fake perfection, but in life there is nothing that is perfect and the imperfections are what provide character and meaning.

Sometimes miracles do occur. However whenever we jump to that opinion, 'too good to be true', maybe it is a good time to pause and re-examine the basis of our opinion.