My Garden 3

Yes, I'm still on the topic of 'My Garden'

The incident in "My Garden 2" happened more than a year ago. I am happy to report that I have been diligently watering, fertilizing and weeding it. One thing I noticed – that no matter how much I do, new weeds keeps growing. Yes, I have tried to get out the roots as well, but I guess the roots are still deep down in the earth. Or maybe the weeds just got carried into my garden by the wind or a dog or cat? The best I can do is to keep weeding to ensure that they don’t take roots too deep. And the activity of weeding allows me time to think and reflect. It allows me to contemplate the beauty of the other plants growing.

So, yes, we are not living in a vacuum. We are still living in this world, full with its attractions and distractions. Things and events are happening around us. And we will mostly react to it.

I learnt something profound a few years back. The action ‘REACT’ - when we take medication and we ‘react’ to it, it basically means the medication is no good for us. On the other had, when the medicine is working, it’s usually said, "I am responding well to the medicine". So – don’t react, but RESPOND to the stimulus. ‘React’ implies that we have no choice, but we can choose our ‘RESPONSE’. Isn’t that good news?

And when we take time to ‘weed’ out the negatives from our lives, it’ll also allow us time to contemplate and appreciate the positives surrounding us.

Another thing about my Garden – many of the plants grew wild and some also stopped blossoming. Why? Upon consultation with another Gardener, I learned that I have to ‘trim’ my plants. I’ve to cut of some branches to allow more shoots and flowers to grow. And so I did! The flowering trees look so much nicer, and in just a few days, I noticed flowers budding. Isn’t that incredible?

No matter how ‘positive’ we are about ourselves, and no matter how much we’ve already achieved, we still need to be vigilant and keep ‘pruning’ ourselves, keep ‘refining’ ourselves. There are still so many things to learn, so many areas to explore. But don’t grow wild. Grow with purpose! Grow to your potential!