Tuesday, July 12, 2005
weeding out what's important
this adventure that i am on of following my dreams and helping others to do the same has been leading me down varied paths of late. i often feel as though i'm heading in twelve different directions. this feeling of exploration can be invigorating at times, and downright overwhelming at others. i'm certain most of you can relate, whether you're looking for a new job, working to build community or simply deciding where to go on vacation it's easy to end up with too many options clogging up our efforts to head towards what we want.
while reading a great blog called making a difference today, i was reminded of the benefits of narrowing our focus. using her garden as an analogy hanna has this to say:
what options, distractions, or even outdated goals need to be weeded from the garden plot of your life?
what would a good weeding allow to thrive?
dream big,
-kirsten
while reading a great blog called making a difference today, i was reminded of the benefits of narrowing our focus. using her garden as an analogy hanna has this to say:
Weeding around the peonies I transplanted last summer, carefully choosing what plants to keep and what plants to pull, I opened up space and light for the peonies to grow. After an initial pass through, I noticed I had overlooked some weeds - smaller, shorter ones, as well as other weeds that were growing too close to distinguish them from the peony stems. Some of the peonies - having grown since last summer - are now too close to each other, and probably need to be moved, to allow optimal growth and flowering for next year.
And so as I went along, I found that these simple tasks called forth some important analogies for me about how we each do our work to make a difference. (And I'm not the only one thinking about gardening analogies recently... see here)
We have to choose where we put our efforts - what, when,how much, with whom. We have to choose what we want to grow and what we need to let go of. We have to know how best to nourish what's important. We need to know what we're looking for, and how we'll know it when we'll see it. We have to able to see how our work now will impact what we want to have happen in the future.
hanna' post is a great reminder that weeding out what's important and what's not can help our highest goals to flourish.
what options, distractions, or even outdated goals need to be weeded from the garden plot of your life?
what would a good weeding allow to thrive?
dream big,
-kirsten
# posted by kirsten johnson @ 2:39 PM 