The water hyacinth is considered invasive in many parts of the World.  It is virtually impossible to stop from growing.  In Jeff's story, the water hyacinth spread across the pond within 30 days to the surprise of the water that so plainly doubted it.  It's not wise to doubt determination backed by passion and ability.

A few nights ago I had a dream.  In it, a former colleague was standing in a small body of water trying to remove plants from the surface.  Adjacent to the small body of water was a much bigger body of water, and I came to stand in the big body of water.  In front of me was a row of surface plants with pretty pink flowers that stretched in a perfect line from one edge of the water to the other with a large open space in front of us.  Then, I awoke.

I grabbed my phone to look up what kind of plant I had dreamed about.  It took about 10 seconds for the page to load, and I soon learned they were water hyacinths.  I quickly remembered reading the story above, but I had not until that moment known what a one looked like.  It was profoundly calming.

You see, I had a big impact on the business where I used to work - where my former colleague still works.  I made deals for new equipment, changed the culture for the better, implemented processes that improved production, helped clean the place up - where once the employees just threw trash on the ground, and left a mark that is more difficult to remove than water hyacinths.  When I left, there were even paintings of mine hanging on the walls in the main office.

God's plan isn't necessarily the same as your plan.  Even though I would have been happy to retire from that company 20 or 30 years from now, it wasn't meant to be.  I calmly handled another employee that threatened my life, and it nearly had devastating consequences.  The next morning I woke up and had to go to the emergency room.  My blood pressure was >200/180.  When I informed HR that I wouldn't tolerate such threats, I was fired.  The other employee was the boss's son.

I am grateful for the experience.  Several years ago, I purchased a domain, and although I had planned to develop a website on it, my focus had always been on work.  I was tired when I got home, and I just wanted to take my dogs for a walk, shower, relax, and go to bed.  Get up and do it all over the next day.  That was life.  Not anymore.

Through the blessing of losing my old job, I once again became motivated to pursue my dream - create a positive place for people to enjoy on the Internet without trying to keep up with the Jones or doom-scrolling their lives away reading an infinite feed of bad news.  Welcome to silverpaul where that dream has become a reality.  Life doesn't always go the direction you want it to at the time, but that doesn't mean it's not working out.  The water hyacinths are spreading. Godspeed. 

Great read: