December is a wonderful time to reflect upon all the seeds we’ve planted the year before. When I look upon 2008, I can see the actions that lead to the landscape of my 2009 garden. It’s important to take note of which seeds we planted, which plants we watered and fertilized, and which weeds we allowed to overtake our gardens due to our fear and denial.
Creating a beautiful garden takes attention, dedication and desire – just like everything we do in life. The seeds we choose to plant are critical as we must live with the results of those choices. And should times get tough and we experience a drought – we can still prioritize and focus on what’s most important for us to cultivate even if that means watering only one plant.
Many times we end up not liking what we’ve planted and rather than addressing the unwanted plants we get scared and abandon our garden. What grows in our garden isn’t anyone else’s fault or responsibly, but often we want to blame the way our garden looks on external circumstances. Instead of taking responsibility for our creation and changing it, we blame the mess on the rotten dog next door, the lack of rain, aphids, ground hogs, or killer weeds. We’re so afraid of our power of creation and the possible judgment by others – that we abandon our gardens, sabotaging them and ultimately proving what we truly believe about ourselves – that we’re not good enough.
Other times we allow a thicket of spiny bushes to grow hoping to cover up some overly consuming plant that has gotten out of control. We no longer want to deal with that issue so we try to hide the irritating plant behind some fast growing bush figuring if it’s out of sight it will be out of mind! Of course any gardener knows that you can’t ignore a problem plant with its tenuous roots multiplying everywhere. For sure “denial” is not a river running through your garden.
An avid gardener does a little weeding and pruning daily to tweek their creation and make important changes as soon as issues come up. If we ignore how our gardens are developing it’s easy to become overwhelmed and make excuses for our procrastination and avoidance. We all know what happens next – the plants we ignore just keep on growing until they’re out of control and we’re forced to take action. Then not only do we have to take action on what we were avoiding in the first place, but now we’ve got to deal with the damage caused by the overgrown voracious weeds and wild bushes.
Robert Louis Stevenson once said: Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant. Indeed. If you plant cabbage don’t expect to grow lettuce. You might produce a huge harvest of cabbage – but that won’t meet your mental expectations if you were looking for lettuce. However, your efforts are always successful because they always reflect your actions. Knowing this – let’s focus on the seeds we plant this year and be clear about what we want to grow. Since we reap what we sow, let’s use our hearts to determine what we would like to plant and be very choosy about what goes into our gardens.
Spend some time reflecting on what plants you would like to see in your garden. Imagine what your garden would look and feel like. Breathe in the scent of your garden and revel in the loveliness. You don’t have to have every step mapped out, simply take one action and the following step will be revealed to you at the proper time. Have faith in your creation and ability to create beauty as you are divine spirit in action! I encourage you to be brave and open to what life has to offer and don’t abdicate your personal power to fear and uncertainty.
Many times we end up not liking what we’ve planted and rather than addressing the unwanted plants we get scared and abandon our garden. What grows in our garden isn’t anyone else’s fault or responsibly, but often we want to blame the way our garden looks on external circumstances. Instead of taking responsibility for our creation and changing it, we blame the mess on the rotten dog next door, the lack of rain, aphids, ground hogs, or killer weeds. We’re so afraid of our power of creation and the possible judgment by others – that we abandon our gardens, sabotaging them and ultimately proving what we truly believe about ourselves – that we’re not good enough.
Dr. Sheri Rosenthal DPM is a master Toltec teacher and the author of 