Life is Like a Garden
Life is like a garden, I contemplated to myself as I weeded and planted my garden this past weekend. I love to garden. Gardening helps me get centered and calm. It allows me to connect to my inner-self and just enjoy the moment of digging in the dirt and seeing the efforts of my labor grow into something beautiful. Before the garden flourishes, it is necessary to spend time weeding, replenishing the dirt and mindfully placing the plants in places they will naturally flourish.
Tending to a garden is so much like tending to our inner-self and life. Sometimes we have to hibernate and take a bit of a break just like gardens do over the winter. When the spring arrives there is a narrow window of time where it is urgently necessary to tend to the weeds, replenish the dirt and plant new seeds.
Similarly in life. There are sometimes times when we need to urgently “tend to the weeds,” this could be a time of inner contemplation and growth where you quietly remove the obstacles that are standing in your way. You begin to step into your power and bask in the sun as you learn to truly grow and flourish. Often it is hard to see the reasons why these issues need to be tended too but in the end it all makes sense. As hindsight is often 20/20.
Sometimes in gardening it is necessary to dig out the perennials, split them up and replant them. The same happens in life. There are sometimes things we need that may just need some tending to to reorganize and clean up in order to flourish more later. In the moment though, the splitting, organizing and replanting looks messy and a bit chaotic. Yet it is completely necessary so that the perennials do not take over complete sections of the garden or “sections of your life.”
When we get to the point where we get to plant new seeds we trust that the efforts of our labor will pay off in the long run. If we nourish the garden, water it and tend to the weeds as they pop up, the garden will begin to grow and flourish before your eyes. Sometimes unexpected events arise like weather or animals that cause constant shifting and changing of our approach to ensuring that our garden flourishes. So too does life call upon us to tend to its ever-changing landscape.
In the garden of life, we sow and plant the seeds of our dreams, aspirations, and passions. When we begin to tend to the garden of our life it is often hard to see how the efforts of our labor will pay off in the end yet we trust the process completely. With careful intention and unwavering determination, we cultivate our dreams, providing them with the nourishment they need to flourish.
The garden experiences seasons of growth and flourishing, it also endures seasons of change and transformation. In life we also encounter storms which show up as challenges, setbacks, and heartache. These events often sweep through our lives, threatening to uproot what we have carefully nurtured and protected. Yet, in the face of adversity, we discover the strength and resilience within us. We begin to learn to bend, not break, and find the courage to weather the storms, knowing and trusting that they too shall pass.
Like a garden, life teaches us patience. We learn to wait, to trust in the natural rhythms and cycles of growth. We begin to understand that some seeds take longer to sprout, that not every bud will bloom. Gardens help us to understand how to embrace the beauty of each stage of growth and change.
Ultimately, life is like a garden because it is constantly changing and evolving, flowing from one season to the next, needing nurturing along the way to flourish and grow. It is a good reminder that we hold the power within ourselves to shape our own destinies.
