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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Digging in the Dirt

Here on the eastern seaboard spring is seeming to start early. ( It's February friends....global warming- what?) Yesterday as I walked my hound, two very twitterpated robins flew in front of me, oblivious in their ritual. Daffodils are blooming, trees are budding, and yes, mosquitoes are beginning to buzz.  Spring brings the ritual of planting, growing , and weeding out the garden. Seed catalogues bring excitement as we think about all the wonderful things we can grow- how spectacular the fully bloomed plants look! Renewal, everything begins again,  and is fresh. We love to envision the finished product, change is good. But plants, like people, need care and patience to grow if we are to reach our potential. In the yoga sutras of Patanjali, svadiyaya, self study, is one of the niyamas....what is needed? We need to ask ourselves what is needed for our own  growth. We have the best intentions. But, if you take seeds and half assedly toss them into the ground and walk away, you have a fifty-fifty shot of them taking hold and growing; it was a good try, but the seeds may not get what they need; they sprout, wither, and die. Shame. How good  are we  at doing this...we think of the things we need to develop in ourselves, get excited and make sometimes a half hearted attempt at fostering their growth. Then we find out it is work- so we toss the catalogue of personal growth seeds  in the recycling and move on to something else. Ring any bells?-does for me. Gardening is dirty work, and most of us prefer to to let someone else do it. We toss the seeds of change into the wind and they may or may not grow roots in our heart. Real growth takes rolling up your sleeves, and digging in the dirt. Time. Patience. Care.  To  become the cultivator of change we need to decide on which seeds to plant in ourselves, nurture them with tender care, knowing there may be setbacks and challenges-like the weeds in the garden, we have to rid ourselves of things that stunt our growth. Are you ready to dig in the dirt and plant the seeds of change....they will blossom  if we allow them to take root in our heart and reach towards the sun. 

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