Gardening for Life
To plant a successful garden, you must prepare the soil, know what you are planting and how much space to allow it, and keep the weeds out. Most people I know that play around with a garden try to skip or ignore steps. By the end of the summer, the grass is covering the garden, and they don’t know what is where (it’s not like I haven’t done it myself).
The other morning I was reminded by an article from Heart of Wisdom that everything in life falls into the same pattern as gardening.
She wrote:
“Timely planting and on-going care (watering, weeding, pruning, etc.) will bring forth good fruit. There’s no quick fix for training children. If we neglect them now, we can’t expect positive results later. As I explained to my sons, we can’t expect daffodils if we don’t plant the bulbs.”
I was motivated to dig into my own flower beds. Weeding is a task I try to start just after the first frost. I know from experience that if I let the weeds dig their roots in then I’m in for a real battle. If I get them while they are young, it is easy as running a rake across the area.
Down on my knees, with my face practically in the dirt, I realized how much gardening and life parallel. Bad habits are like weeds. If they are allowed to make a home in my life, it takes some hard work to clear them out. What’s even worse is that just one bad habit, left on its own, has a way of multiplying until my whole life seems to be spinning out of control.
Weeding my garden will help me focus on the weeds that have sprouted up in my life. Hopefully, as I make progress in the dirt, I can make just as much progress in myself.
No matter what you are doing (starting a business, cleaning the house, or schooling the children), you have to prepare for the task, plan out what you want to do and know the space (or time) to do it, and above all else, you have to keep the weeds out.
Steps for Creating a Successful Life Garden
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1. Be prepared – make a schedule, draw out a map, sketch a plan. You have to know what you need to do and when you need to do it in order to be able to get it done.
2. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Weeds have a way of digging into the ground the more time they are given. If you want the task to be easier then pull the weed when it first shows itself.
3. Take care of your tasks. You can’t clean the house just once (maybe once a day if you have kids) or wash the dishes expecting them to stay clean. This is an ongoing effort (what ever THIS may be in your life).
4. Be consistent with your tasks. Do things at the same time in the same way and they will become habits in your life. Before you know it, you’ll be folding and putting away laundry with out a thought about it.
5. Delegate but don’t forget. There are times when I pass on tasks to others in the family, but they forget (or haven’t gotten use) to the task. Depending on the time and the circumstances, I will gently remind and even offer to help, or I will do it myself. Getting upset just wastes even more time.
6. Get rid of all the unwanted or unneeded in your life – whether it’s unused toys, old clothes, or club meetings you really don’t enjoy. The time you have is all the time you get – make the most of it everyday.
Keeping a healthy life garden is possible for everyone. It is the one time you don’t need a green thumb to get it right. Just make sure you prepare, plan, and weed and you will be alright.
