Gardening is like Life and Business

So for the last few days I have been feeling uber

punky and more drained than a kitchen sink, but being the girl who likes to be outdoors I created little nooks to huddle down in in the garden where I could just BE, read books, sip water, think and dream.  (Now if you know me I am more a DOer than a sit stiller so it was a delicious dichotomy).

One of the nooks that I created was in a corner of the garden where all the seeds were starting to come up.  When the seeds were planted I didn’t mark the rows with tags, sticks or labels – I had more an attitude of “you will grow where you need to grow”, but thankfully they are mainly all coming up in rows.  (Which the Virgo aspect of me appreciates).

So there I was curled up in the dappled sun with gorgeous gentle music playing in the background, books and journals surrounding me and I looked around at this amazing oasis that the kids and I created, how with the sun and the heat everything is starting to take off and grow and flourish – as are the "weeds".  I watched my point of focus move to the weeds that were, as I felt, impacting the orderly direction of all the delicious rows.

Have to say, feeling as drained as I was the idea of hopping up, pulling out the weeds, creating calm out of perceived chaos didn’t resonate highly on a physical level, but it most certainly did on an energetic level.  I watched as my point of focus on weeds took me out of my appreciation for the gorgeous garden space and all that was growing and flourishing.  I was no longer focused on the carrots that were coming up, the peas, the spinach, and the kale – just the fucking weeds. 

It took me a while to bring my energy back to the lovely veggies that were growing, the berry bushes, how the kiwis were wending all over the workshop I built - all the things that I had planted with intention.

This is where I realised that life and business are very much like gardening.    Think about it, when we create a garden we sow seeds in a particular space with intention that they will grow. 

In our lives we do a similar thing – albeit our growing season is longer - whether it is in our personal lives, our business, our love life – you name it.  But where is our point of focus?  Is it in the here and the now and the appreciation for what is growing or is it on something else?  For example you have a newer love relationship that starts to flourish and grow and of course in the beginning it is delicious fun – however 4 months or so have passed and your focus turns to the “weeds” of – they didn’t call last night, or at the beginning they used to meet you after work for a quick 5 minute hug and kiss – but they are too busy now.  They want to hang out with their friends instead of you – WTF?

Let’s look at business; you trained, became certified or got a degree, had a great idea and you started a business.  The first few months you were on a high of – HELL YES, I will be the best lawyer/coach/personal trainer/graphics designer ever!!! 

After a few months of long hours, not as many clients as you thought - your tired, your mojo may have vanished to the curb, perhaps you posted on social media and received some negative commentary (along with a truck full of positive comments) but where do you focus?  You focus on the weeds.  Thus, you focus on the negative comments (there were only 3) and totally dismiss the positive comments of 40 other people.  You may possibly be thinking packing this idea in is a good way to go.

So as I sat in my little garden nook, all curled up – I had to make a conscious choice to NOT focus on the weeds, instead to celebrate what is about to come up.  Don’t get me wrong – those suckers are coming out, just not right now.  They will come out when it works for me and to ensure that my delicious plants have room to grow and thrive as do YOU, your life, your business, your family or whatever arena you have planted your seeds of Intention.

Think of it this way:- Weeds are just misplaced flowers.

Give your attention, intention and energy to the seeds you have sown or are about to sow and as the weeds come up realise they are part of the process of what you are creating.  Smile, bless them and then go get a big arse Hoe so you can move those beasties out of your path.