I was talking to a friend of mine a couple weeks ago, and he said something interesting. He gardens, and he spends a lot of time in his garden. He said when it comes to gardening the key question is, what do you want to grow? Once you decide what you want to grow, you figure out how much space you'll need, and how much time you're going to have to care for the garden--it's easy to plant a garden, it's far more difficult to tend it. He said first time gardeners always make the same mistake--they plant a garden way larger than they have the time or the desire to care for.
You have to make sure the plants you put in your garden have everything they need to thrive, and watch for things that threaten their health. It takes a lot of effort. He pointed out that gardening isn't about just growing plants, it's about growing certain plants. A big part of gardening is making sure the weeds don't take over. Even the best gardener with the best garden have to watch out for the weeds. If you're not paying close attention, or you take a few days off from the garden, those weeds can quickly threaten the plants you're trying to encourage to grow.
He said he looks at time the same way. What do I want to grow?
I want enough time for my work so that I'm not rushed all the time. I want time for my family. I want time for my church. It's a very small garden, so I have to be careful what I plant in it in order to get the crop I want.
And of course I'll have to watch out for the weeds that grow. Those distractions that steal time and energy away from what I intend to grow. Weeds will quickly take over your garden if you're not mindful of where they're growing.
It's an inspired way to look at time. Too many of us, myself included, want to try a grow a little bit of everything, and in the end, we have so many plants we're tending, we're lucky in the end if we find even a few tomatoes among the weeds that have taken over.
What do you want to grow?
~Todd E. Creason
Comments
Post a Comment