Rainy days may keep you from heading outside with straw hat and gardening tools. But they are the perfect days to sit inside and do some work on your life. So grab your favourite drink and snack, curl up with your journaling tools and cultivate your life.

Weed

Sometimes it seems they pop up overnight. Unlike some plants that struggle to survive, lose the battle, shrivel and die, garden weeds are indomitable. They anchor themselves in any kind of soil and withstand extreme weather conditions.

Life weeds such as feeling overwhelmed with responsibilities at home and at work, financial problems, difficult relationships, health concerns and so on, rear their ugly heads and choke the good and positive things in our lives.

Some life weeds have tap roots; they burrow straight down and deep. They pierce and break our hearts. Others with fibrous roots fan out and filter through the network of our lives infecting and poisoning all that is good and positive.

They create havoc in every situation and relationship, turning our lives upside down and inside out. They loom above other minor life weeds and force us to set aside legitimate concerns so we can cater to their demands for our undivided attention.

Life weeds sprout and flourish anywhere. They cling to us like parasites. They suck us dry and leave us listless and passive in our own lives.

With a discerning eye and a prayerful heart identify the weeds that are flourishing, clogging your life pores, complicating your relationships and smothering your dreams. Don’t deal only with what is on the surface. Dig to the roots of the weeds in your life and get rid of them to allow the free entry and flow of all that is good and beautiful.

Water

We know of course that too much water can drown even moisture-loving plants. So we are often advised to water our gardens regularly with a moderate supply to keep the soil moist and the plants healthy and alive.

When we get lost in the rush of daily living, it is easy to allow our personal lives to languish in the neglect caused by whatever turmoil may be commanding our attention or the heat of busyness and burnout.

It is honourable that we take care of our responsibilities to our families, our jobs and other areas as well. However, when we don’t pay attention to our personal lives: health, leisure activities, our dreams and other personal interests, we are delinquent gardeners of the lives we’ve been given.

We water our lives when we take time to nurture ourselves with quiet time to pray, meditate, read, plan, dream and lose ourselves in the activities that we enjoy.

Are you drowning your life with too much of a good thing or killing your life slowly by leaving it to languish, dehydrated and starved of crucial life-saving nutrients?

Wait

A well-cultivated garden does not materialize overnight. It takes time so we must be patient. Once you have done your part you need to step back and wait for the seeds to germinate.

Are you anxiously pacing the floor in anticipation of some outcome? It won’t arrive any sooner because your heart beats faster, your palms sweat, you don’t sleep and can’t function normally.

Waiting is not as tough as we make it out to be. See the waiting period as an opportunity to prepare, to pray, to practice a little self-pampering, to revel in quality time with your loved ones, etc.

Wonder

When was the last time you basked in the wonder of your garden? Don’t say that you have only a small garden and a lone lime tree. Whatever stage your garden may be in today, take a moment to appreciate it, just as it is and wonder at its possibilities.

When last did you stand in wonder at your life? Of course these days, many would be quick to shout, “Wonder at what? Things are so bad I just want to crawl under a rock and not come out until 2020.”

Is there not one small aspect of your life that you can appreciate? Are there no blessings? Do you have no one who makes you happy, makes your heart sing, and makes your life better, brighter and worthwhile?

Have you been enjoying fruits of your labour? Did you talk to a friend, receive a smile or kind word from a co-worker, a fellow commuter or a stranger today? Did your children kiss you goodbye before they left for school? Those are things to wonder at, to appreciate.

Don’t take your life for granted. Don’t neglect it either. Luckily, you don’t have to wait for a sunny day to do some gardening in your own life. With the discerning eye of the careful gardener, rid your life of the weeds that are running rampant, water regularly with time for the things you enjoy and the people your love. Wait patiently for new growth of opportunities and wonder at the blessings that abound.

Be a diligent gardener and cultivate a purposeful, productive and happy life.