Growing a Garden is a lot like Losing Weight

Growing a Garden is a lot like Losing Weight … except we dont shame our plants into growing

I have realised I am a stage mum – to my plants.

I show them off at any opportunity I get.

When friends drop by, sooner or later I am pointing out different pots and pretty much forcing them to affirm just how beautiful my succulent babies are.

I find myself taking pictures of them and uploading them to my social media accounts. I don’t even know why. Im just so proud of them and I want the world to see the beauty that is right in front of me.

Apart from being annoying to everyone around me, the ridiculous thing about this is – I have had little to no input in them thriving the way that they have.

Nature has just taken its course. I planted them, gave them all that they needed, have put them in the right conditions so they have sun and water and room to grow – and as time has passed, they have thrived and bloomed and its wonderful.

I wanted a beautiful garden and so I took the steps to plant one, allowed for time and nature to do its thing – and trusted the process.

In the moment I decided I wanted a garden would it have made sense for me to stand over the pots and analyse them?

Would growth have happened any faster if I spoke harsh words to the little buds and demanded to know why they weren’t growing faster?

Would it seem logical for me to look over my neighbours fence to see how fast their plants were growing and then shame my own little pot plants for not being like all the other plants I could see?

Of course not.

Then why do we do that to ourselves?

When we decide that we want to take control of our health and lose some weight and get in shape – we demand that our bodies respond instantly.

Most of us stand on the scales after 48 hours and demand that our bodies respond to our desire to see change NOW.

Too often, people give up because they are frustrated that their own weight loss journey seems to be too difficult or taking too long.

They compare their journey to the people around them and question why it seems so easy for everyone else and why its taking so long for them.

Our bodies are beautiful, living, growing, breathing wonderous things – not too dissimilar from the gardens we grow.

We first need to give them the right conditions to thrive. Most of us understand that part. We start moving more. We become more aware of the foods we nourish ourselves with.

But we forget the next part – time.

We don’t allow for time to take its course. We demand instant change. Instant progress. Instant growth.

Standing there – demanding that we change faster and shaming ourselves when we don’t change overnight is as pointless as yelling at our garden to grow.

All good things take time. Everything blooms and grows and thrives when given the right conditions and the grace of time.

If you are frustrated because you are doing all the right things but don’t feel like you are making progress – friend, you are right on track. Give yourself grace and allow time to take its course.

You are growing in ways you just cant see yet – but change is happening. Its inevitable.

Imagine all that we cant see when plants are growing. Imagine all that happens below the surface. Now imagine if we just uprooted our plants every time we felt they were not growing fast enough. Would that make them grow any faster?

No.

They would be worse off every time.

When you are in the right conditions – stay grounded.

Time is the greatest gift you could give yourself.