I am working this summer as a landscape gardener, which is a really nice way of saying I'm pulling weeds 8+ hours a day. Today I was at a house where the front yard was completely filled with plants. No grass. Just side walk and plants. The plants were growing ontop of and around eachother everywhere. It was a mess. The problem was that there were not very many weeds, just a lot of plants growing into each other. So, I had to decide which plants were the most important and then thin the garden out by pulling out a lot of good plants. It was a great visual for my life at the moment. I have a whole lot of good things going on and there are always more good opportunities right around the corner, but my life often has too many good things going on and it looks like a mess. I've called it "prioritizing" and "just say no" and "good is the enemy of great", but I've never called it "weeding".
I like pictures. Pictures burn images into my memory unlike words which skim by and disintegrate before I can capture them. The picture of that garden today is burned into my mind. When we were done thinning out the good plants, it was amazing how great the yard looked. There were so many beautiful plants we couldn't even see before. I have a hard time thinning out good ideas, jobs, volunteer opportunities, adventures, hobbies, etc. At the garden today we were able to transplant some of the good plants into other areas of the yard that weren't so full. Maybe I can find some places to transplant some of my great ideas, but if not, I need to be willing to toss them out or my yard/life is always going to be a mess.
I am working this summer as a landscape gardener, which is a really nice way of saying I'm pulling weeds 8+ hours a day. Today I was at a house where the front yard was completely filled with plants. No grass. Just side walk and plants. The plants were growing ontop of and around eachother everywhere. It was a mess. The problem was that there were not very many weeds, just a lot of plants growing into each other. So, I had to decide which plants were the most important and then thin the garden out by pulling out a lot of good plants. It was a great visual for my life at the moment. I have a whole lot of good things going on and there are always more good opportunities right around the corner, but my life often has too many good things going on and it looks like a mess. I've called it "prioritizing" and "just say no" and "good is the enemy of great", but I've never called it "weeding".
I like pictures. Pictures burn images into my memory unlike words which skim by and disintegrate before I can capture them. The picture of that garden today is burned into my mind. When we were done thinning out the good plants, it was amazing how great the yard looked. There were so many beautiful plants we couldn't even see before. I have a hard time thinning out good ideas, jobs, volunteer opportunities, adventures, hobbies, etc. At the garden today we were able to transplant some of the good plants into other areas of the yard that weren't so full. Maybe I can find some places to transplant some of my great ideas, but if not, I need to be willing to toss them out or my yard/life is always going to be a mess.
3 comments:
Don't you love it that if you are willing to LOOK, there are life lessons everywhere? And you even had a visual before and after. Everytime I clean out my garden of weeds and spent blooms, I can hear it saying to me "Thank you, thank you!" Good encouragement!
Wow, great illustration! And great lesson. Thanks for sharing!!
Funny thing is that I've been called the "black thumb" for years because I can't grow anything and more importantly, I didn't have any interest. Since working in gardens every day, I have done a 180 and have started planting things at my house...AND WATERING THEM! Amazing how well things do when they're watered. :D
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