I recently started the process of trying to grow a vegetable garden. Last year, was my first attempt. It went okay, but man, it isn’t easy. I certainly do not have a green thumb either. But, determination, and the value I give local produce, allowed me to persevere. I cannot say I love patty pan squash after growing it, but I succeeded in growing something that was in fact, edible. I made a chocolate “zucchini” cake, substituting shredded zucchini for me ginormous patty pan I nurtured from a seed (yup, I was brave enough to start my garden from seed).
Granted, gardening, of the flower or vegetable variety, is not a hobby for everyone. However, it may come as a surprise to many, that you actually do garden throughout your life, except you’re not digging in soil…
Let’s break this down and compare life, to gardening with some basic life milestones:
University or College: Studying, learning, and gaining skills like your life depended on it.
Gardening: Prepping the soil, tilling, and fertilizing, to prepare it for what lies ahead.
Beginning of your career: Growing your skills, your network, your experience, and your income!
Gardening: Planting your seedlings, watering, weeding, and applying plant food, to ensure your plants grow big!
Well into your career and your adult life: making a solid income (hopefully), maybe getting married, maybe having a kid (or a pet?), more vacation days (soaking up sun at the cottage or an exotic destination?), maybe buying a house, ideally enjoying life, and respecting the work it took you to get to this point!
Gardening: Picking your flowers that are now blooming, or your tomatoes that are finally ripe, enjoying the efforts of your work to keep your plants healthy and happy.
This is a very interesting and seemingly accurate analogy for many of us in our lives. It certainly has been for me (indeed the pet adoption part). A new friend of mine, shared this analogy with me last week, and it helped put some things that I’d been stressing about, into perspective. Smart woman she is! Maybe the next time you’re out pulling weeds in a flower bed, think about how strong you are, and that you’ve pulled weeds before, and, you came out more amazing as a result.