Yesterday I started my day weeding. Not the most glamorous way to start a day but one that brought with it some deep thought, meditation, oh and yes, a much prettier garden. As I weeded I began to compare the pulling of weeds to challenges in life. Seem strange? Stay with me…
The weeds themselves mirrored the personal challenges I sometimes face. Some weeds were removed easily with a gentle pull, roots and all.
Other weeds held on more strongly, requiring me to dig in the dirt deeper to get to the root. When I didn’t focus on getting to the root, sometimes the top of the weed would release, but I knew it would grow back quickly since I didn’t really remove the source.
Some weeds grew wide and had multiple roots hanging on, refusing to easily let go. And my least favorite was the weed I went to pull that surprised me with thorns. It was much more painful to deal with.
So where is the connection you ask?
There are challenges and emotions in life that are easy to deal with when a gentle focus is placed on resolution. Other challenges require a bit more effort, digging inward to really find “the root” of the issue. When not taking the time to get to the true source of the problem, and just superficially resolve it, that same problem is most likely going to resurface again.
Now some issues are not so straight forward. They can branch out to various areas of life or have many causes. Those are sometimes more difficult to remove but by following each of the areas that the challenge takes hold and working to let them go, the obstacle can be removed.
Finally, there are some issues in life that hurt more than others. They usually are the issues that reach deep and require more focus and patience. They are harder to deal with and remove, but not impossible.
Just like my garden, I know that each day new challenges and issues will begin to grow below the surface. And I will have to keep weeding them out – it is a never ending task. But at the same time, when I deal with the issues when they first come up and are new they can be much easier to remove. They have not yet taken hold as strongly and grown roots to secure their footing. And when an issue has built a foundation, I need to get to the root of the problem (yes, I said it) and deal with it at the source, to have the best chance of it not coming back.
So if you are someone who needs to weed a garden, next time see how those weeds reflect your life challenges. And whether your weed or not, reflect on the sooner an issue or challenge is addressed, the weaker the hold it takes and the easier to deal with removing it. Dealing with the weeds and with life’s challenges can lead to a beautiful nurturing place to spend time.
Share with me your thoughts below.
