I began this year by choosing the word theme of grow. With that in mind, I’m picturing my life as a garden. I cultivate joy by providing proper nourishment, light, and hefty amounts of love. One of the big challenges in any garden are weeds. The key here is not allowing them to hang around for very long in the first place. If my garden is healthy and well cared for, I have fewer problems with weeds taking hold. So I yank out anything that may cause problems for me and my garden along the way. After all, it’s up to me to weed out what I know is not good. It is up to me to cultivate joy.
It’s been difficult at best these last few years keeping all the weeds from taking over my garden and cultivating the so needed joy back into it. The reality of all that is happening in the world these days seems to feed on itself like tenacious deep-rooted weeds of doubt and fear - not what I want growing and thriving in my garden.
I’ve pulled back on many things I thought I might do and have taken on a much slower approach to my life. This pulling back has allowed me to consider what is going on and how various weeds affect my garden. I’ve focused on doing less and am now seeing more possibilities. I am taking care of my garden. I am focusing on the possibilities for cultivating joy as the seasons roll on. Isn’t that what gardeners do? One planting season isn’t over and we’re planning and planting with the focus on a better future.
I can’t wait to see how much joy I can cultivate into the days, weeks, and months ahead. If you haven’t thought of your life as a garden, maybe now is the time to start planting seeds of joy and see what comes up. So what if weeds start popping up. They’re going to do that anyway, so let’s give ‘em a yank before they become deeply rooted. Let’s cultivate healthy and well cared for gardens. Let’s cultivate joy.
Take care,
Michelle
Being a gardener, I can’t help but share deep gardening thoughts with you from time to time. In the past, I’ve including gardening in many posts. If you enjoyed this one, you may want to read or re-read these: Autumn Joy, Plucking Weeds, Growing Pains, Thriving and Growing. Enjoy!
Photo Cultivate © Romolo Tavani | Dreamstime.com
