Gardening, they say is cheaper than therapy! I used to garden a lot as a teenager as I found it to be very therapeutic when I needed to take a break from schoolwork. I would raid my mom’s kitchen, use any and every seed in the pantry, and try to make them grow. Regardless of the disappointments, some successes kept motivating me to go back to gardening once in a while. While we are all stuck at home right now, it seemed appropriate to brush up on my gardening skills and I did. It didn’t turn into the garden of Eden but it is still a pretty awesome result of a lot of hard work!
It all began with a few clicks online for some seeds and a seed planter. They arrived soon enough and my gardening journey had begun just like that.
As the days progressed into weeks and months, I realized how similar gardening is to life. Things never exactly progress as I would have wanted them to and the obstacles are many. There are external as well as internal factors that dictate your outcome. The rewards are gratifying even though the challenges were many.
The most attention your garden will need is in the beginning stages. You need to spend a lot of time, paying attention to the seedlings, and assisting closely in the germination process. The next step is to transfer the saplings from the bed to the ground. This needs a lot of tender, love and care or you might destroy them even before they have a chance to grow.
As they grow, there will be factors trying to inhibit their growth. There are weeds that take up healthy space and overshadow the good plants. There are insects that invade the leaves and leave a spotty trail all over. So I had to get my hands dirty, dig in and pull those weeds out. Weeds and insects are detrimental to the well being of the garden and we need to make sure you get rid of them completely.
Despite all that, no matter how much you care for the plants, some just don’t survive and you have to accept that and let them go. Plants too have a mind of their own and they will not grow in the direction you would want them to. I would wake up somedays to find an errant creeper strangling another plant and impinging on its space. I have had to carefully untangle those and redirect them to another space where they can breathe and allow others to breathe.
Delayed Gratification. That is what gardening teaches you. Plants don’t come to fruition overnight and you have to be willing to wait to see success. Sometimes they wither away and you have to reflect back and rethink your gardening strategies. Some plants grow slowly but then they do bear fruit. Some grow in the shadows of the bigger plants but they make a contribution in their own way and are as important as the more visible plants.
Then there are the pest infestations that you need to keep away. Should I spray insecticides and compromise on the quality of my produce or salvage what I can while continuing to stick to my standards? Difficult decision to make but I stuck to not using any chemicals. Now, swap out plants for people in your social circle or employees in your organization and you will have a pretty good idea of what I am talking about. Life or any business can be compared to gardening.
There will always be people trying to pull you down. You just have to take a stance and push those negative people out of your life or your organization. Watch out for the quiet people – just because they don’t talk much does not mean they are not valuable. Some people are important just for the support they provide others. They stay away from the limelight but they help the organization grow.
Like a good gardener consistent review of results against goals is a sure way to channel the progress towards the goal.
Don’t compromise on quality over quantity, the important thing is to focus on living a life that is honest and gratifying. Five real friends are any day better than a thousand on Facebook!
At the end of the day, life will pay as many dividends as you invest in taking care of it.
So when life throws shit at you, grow a garden!
Imprints of time 