The Weeds Come First

I was outside cleaning my flowerbed this morning. I’m falling more in love with gardening every year. I’m not very good at it yet but I still invest the time and I notice my skills improving by a small margin each year. Each spring is exciting, anticipating what I’ll be able to cultivate and grow. In this mindset I was digging out the twigs and dead leaves that had collected there last fall, excited to make way for the new life that will soon be growing there.

One of the things I love about gardening is that it’s fertile ground for introspection. I’m constantly drawing out metaphors from my gardening, thinking as I dig and clean. This morning, as I removed the dead leaves from my dead-looking flowerbed I noticed something living underneath – weeds. Ugh, “already?” I thought. I don’t get one green leaf, not one bud, not one wanted sign of life and I already have weeds.

Isn’t that so like life? You set out to do a good thing; to cultivate something good in your life, but before you begin to see even a little progress a weed appears. You determine to clean up your finances but your car breaks down and your refrigerator dies before you’re even able to set up your budget. It’s discouraging and drags you down before you even get the momentum to start. It makes you want to give up.

How silly it would be to give up on my flower garden simply because I first saw weeds. I know the beautiful potential my flowerbed holds and I would be missing out greatly were I to let a few weeds discourage me from cultivating something lovely in spite of them. Whatever good thing we try to do will bring out weeds early on, they should be expected. Anything that has worth or adds value to your life involves its own obstacles. Things that come to us easily are frequently less valued.

Tips for your garden … and your life.

Begin the clean-up. Make your flowerbed ready. Don’t expect much to happen if you don’t get around to removing all the junk that’s collected. Set the stage for success.

Pull the weeds. If it was only the sight of the the weed I objected to I could just cover them with mulch but any gardener is laughing at that idea because covering up a problem simply hides it while it becomes even bigger. Deal with the weed while it’s small and get it out of the way.

Cultivate and sow goodness. Don’t stop at pulling weeds. If you don’t plant something then nothing (but weeds) will grow. What is your desired outcome? To be debt free? Begin to work toward it. You’ll have to pull more weeds along the way but the more time and effort you invest the more beautiful the outcome.

Why I do what I do ~ Ever notice that flowers look prettier and produce tastes better when you grow it yourself? I’m sure it’s all in my head or maybe it’s just because it’s that much fresher, who knows. Either way … dontcha love it?

photo credit: Andres RuedaHave you liked Domestic Cents on Facebook yet?

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Tagged as: Cleaning, Gardening, Personal Growth