I was recently taking a minute in my friend’s rose garden in Napa Valley, California. I was seated next to a particularly fragrant rose bush and was enveloped by its heady aroma. I begin to examine the rose more closely. Each petal was so delicate. I gently plucked a petal and held it in my hand. It was white, almost translucent, with a vague tinge of pink at the edge. That petal was beautiful.

However, as I looked between the petal in my palm, and the blossom from which it came, I had to admit the blossom was much more appealing than the singular petal. As impressive as the blossom was, so much more beautiful was the entire rose bush. Who would not rather receive a bouquet of a dozen roses over a single rose?

And, then, as I looked around the amazing garden of roses that surrounded my seat, I was even more struck by the beauty. The roses in the garden were different colors, different sizes, some bushy, some climbing, some intertwined with other greenery. The whole was so much more brilliant and spectacular than the sole petal.

If I am a petal, I can be the most beautiful and perfect petal ever there was. Nonetheless, I could never compare to the beauty of the combined petals of the blossom, the bush, the bouquet or the garden. Only when I combine my beauty and uniqueness with that of others am I able to be truly spectacular, as part of an amazing garden.