How Does Your Garden Grow?

All day, every day, our lives are a series of choices. This applies to every facet of our day, every person with whom we interact, or not, and our attitudes about these things. Do we get up or stay in bed? Do we show up or make an excuse as to why we can't? Do we hold on to a grudge or let it go and offer up kindness, forgiveness? We all know at least one someone whom we could tell a thousand good things to and only one bad one, and they would latch onto that bit of negative and focus on that, chew on it incessantly (or maybe we ARE that person). These decisions we make determine the course of our day and ultimately represent whether we choose to be happy, or not..because happiness IS a choice.The same is true about the people and relationships we keep or cut from our lives.

I tell my husband all the time when he grumbles about the truly persistent weeds in our yard, that a weed is just a flower that has not yet realized its full potential. His standard reply is, "Well, it will have to do that somewhere else," while he douses the poor "almost-flower" with poison. Having a lawn that he is proud of is a choice he makes over and over again, as he devotes money, sweat, time and energy to creating his vision of "just the right yard." Healthy, vibrant green grass that is soft to walk on with bare feet, trees that grow tall and strong, providing cool shade on hot summer days, and flowers in bold colors, with sweet scents that catch and carry on the breeze matter to him, even if it means the untimely demise of whatever he deems a weed. Isn't that what we do with people, too? We often keep close and cultivate the relationships with people who make us feel alive, the people who help us to heal or learn or grow and hopefully that is reciprocated. And while I'm certainly not suggesting we poison the people who "disrupt our growth" with Weed-Be-Gone, a better choice is to allow them to thrive "elsewhere", i.e. the abandoned lot across the street or the wild, untamed woods behind our house. Many things happen in our lives that are completely out of our control, such as the loss of a loved one or the diagnosis of a serious health issue, etc. It is our choice, however, to allow ourselves to be ruled by those happenstances or to mold our own future in spite of them.

*Images from quoteko.com.

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