It seems to me that Nature took its' own time to first put a beautiful design together, and then painted it with a lot of patience, while working on this flower with unimaginable inherent beauty -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/14063661@N00/272236439/in/set-72157594333788172/ Further click on All Sizes -- at top left of the image to see the beautiful enlargement. This example, in itself should prove to us how Nature can be a perfect, but silent, teacher, Furthermore, it can also convince us to develop tolerance and understanding in accepting the things that we may not like, or those that bother us --- like in the case of this flower of Orbea, despite some sharp spiny points, we all can simply marvel at the intricate, yet very delicate, design and the beautiful color-combination. Another lesson we can learn from plants that grow under conditions of stress, in nature, is that they are often compensated with beautiful flowers ----- just as in case of humans, with correct approach, hardship(s) can help develop strong and good character. So, the take home lesson for all of us seems to be that we all need to learn to accept the good, along with what may not be so good, and that going thru some tough times may also be not be so bad, at the end of it.