Flowers Never Pick Themselves

Gabe Bello
Nov 6 · 3 min read

A necessary vacation and a meditative chapter.

Nassau, Bahamas

San Diego is a not-so-subtle reminder that my home is by the water — blue water, that is. Although my first time in this city, the environmental reminders are nostalgically comforting. No matter how challenging and essential for growth the Chattahoochee has been, the red clay will never compare to the sand beneath my feet.

My body still hasn’t forgiven me for the bottomless mimosas I indulged in (I never did find that bottom), but it was an emphatic and invigorating entrance to the city.

I sat across from a coworker and a friend — one who’s been kind enough to help me through professional and personal woes with equal spirit. We’re both in the same boat despite me being over a decade younger [and with a decade-less tech experience]. Our want for things — our drives, our ambitions towards excellence, separate us from the pack.

And while we’re 2,000 miles away from the office and our daily lives, I felt anonymous. No obligation or mandate to anyone or anything. Just a reflection on who I am and who I want to be.


I’ve accepted my role in this life. My habits of finding friendship with people 10+ years older than me has proven to be a lifestyle more than happenstance. The people I resonate most with are the ones who “made it.” The people I find the most peace with are the ones who run circles around me with life experience.

None of my coworkers are 22. I have no peers, only mentors.

I tried for so long to get to the top as quickly as possible — to subvert the social and cultural norms that limit young souls to entry level work and borderline-poverty. I made every effort to set myself apart, and at every turn I hit the corner with more confidence and less braking. Every goal I set leading up to this point has been met or exceeded.

My friends are not in my position. Half are still in classes that [understandably] make them want to rip their hair out. The other half are digital-adoptive millennials who welcomed me into their fold after I stopped being their student. There’s a certain isolation in knowing that I don’t seamlessly fit into the circles I have.

But I don’t resent my goals or my ambition.

I won’t stop trying to break every boundary or shatter every record set by my predecessors. I can’t stop — it’s ingrained in me. But it means that I’ll always be in limbo. I’ll always be farther along than my peers and unintentionally alienated by my mentors. I’ll always be on my own.

This is the responsibility instilled on me for my talent — and I’ve stopped apologizing for acknowledging my talent. What a waste it would be if I let social comfort stagnate the record breaking years ahead of me.

A gift from the universe can’t go unused. And like roses, this gift is a mark on my existence — a light that shines down and echoes, “this is your opportunity.”

Flowers never pick themselves.

I didn’t choose to be this way, but I will live up to the potential I see. And every destination I arrive at and every completed checklist that my life mirrors— every record broken is a step forward towards the legacy I build for myself.

I’ve progressed and regressed many times over the past two years — and I’ve uprooted my worldview even further in the past 6 months. But there’s one transgression, one principle, that I’ve consistently hesitated to embrace before now.

Flowers never pick themselves.

Wherever my legacy takes me, I’m certain that the most I’ll ever have is myself. Right now, the ocean winds and seagulls’ caws remind me of my end goal. As I over indulged on champagne, trying so hard with my “beat the buffet” mentality, I had my realization. I might lose to the bottomless champagne, but I’ll win at everything else. There’s no one to look up to but myself.

And every chapter in my book, every season in my years, will always lead me back to the sand beneath my feet.

Gabe Bello

Written by

a two-headed boy, sharing the other half of my stories

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