Have you ever asked yourself the question, what do I want my life to produce?
Imagine with me for a moment that your life is a seed—your time, your words, your actions and finance all seed—then ask yourself the question, what is it producing?
As a gardener, I know there are times when what I planted hasn’t produced what I hoped. It may have been that I didn’t give it the attention it required—giving the opportunity for bugs and diseases to get in and overrun the garden patch. But even when it hasn’t worked out as I hoped, I’ve learnt that nothing is ever wasted; rather, it’s an invitation to recalibrate, clear the ground, so to speak, and start planting again with a new determination to see a good harvest by planting more seed.
This principle has worked both in the garden and with changes I’ve made within myself.
You see, a simple seed can produce a harvest of fruit; each seed then produces seeds of its own to produce more fruit. This rapid process quickly multiplies into countless seeds ready to be planted!
If we evaluate our life, time, talents, words and finances as seeds and the principle of multiplication that is already within the seed, then consider the question again, what are you producing, and what do you want your life to produce?
What we sow increases, both in nature and in life. Sow kindness, and it multiplies; sow time, love and care into our family and community, and it multiplies. Sow frustration, anger and dishonesty, and it multiplies.
We are at a crossroads in our world today, seeing and experiencing the effects of negative seeds that have been sown around us, and it’s grown to chaotic proportions; you only have to turn on the news channel for a few minutes to get my point. Many people feel overwhelmed, tired and unsure of how to move forward. We thought we had planted apple seeds, but instead, we got something totally different, some kind of fruit that we don’t recognise and certainly do not want to eat.
While we may not be able to do anything about the problems on a larger scale, we can certainly start to look at our own patch and choose to be the change and not wait for others to do it for us. How we respond to the current challenges we face as a society will shape our family and the people around us into the future.
You may be thinking, but what can I do? If I don’t have the time, money or energy to help others, then simply ask yourself, what do you have?
If you have words in your mouth, speak words of encouragement to others. Turn off the TV, shut down social media, and shift where you spend your time to the things that really matter.
Pull the plug on fear and bad news; go for a walk with your family, and start sowing into living a lifestyle to build a better, stronger, friendlier, more helpful, safer community.
Visit a neighbour or family member, take the time to have a conversation, and build relationships.
Walk along the beach, smile and greet those you pass, and experience the difference you feel. A simple change in where we sow our seed can bring a multitude of changes to others, and in return, our lives become more fulfilled.
“If you want to change the future, you must change what you’re doing in the present”. – Mark Twain
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