Good morning. I
hope you are having an awesome day filled with awareness and gratitude about all
that is good in your life. A belated
Happy Father’s Day for those of you who are biological fathers, step dads, dads with adopted kids, and
those of you who are a father figure for many people in your life. YOU are
important!
I have been doing a lot of thinking about
all the life lessons we can learn from our farmers. Think about it. Farmers understand the importance of building and
establishing a strong, fertile soil for their crops. That soil is tilled, watered, weeds are not
tolerated and are pulled, and there is a regular need to feed the soil with
good nutrients. Their
success or failure is based on the attention and care they have given to the
soil. This is a never
ending process, year after year, not just a onetime event, and they must always
be adapting to change.
After preparation of the soil, the next step is to plant
the seeds. It looks easy enough, at least to the untrained eye. First of all, which seeds will be planted on
which field and at what time? Corn grown
in Iowa and Illinois, for example, is different than the corn grown in SW
Kansas. Crops need and grow their best
in the environment that is the best for that crop, and each crop has its own
gestation period. There are some
constants from one area to the next, but many adaptations and adjustments need
to be made depending on the circumstances and the environment. Crops are often times rotated from one field
to another. After one crop has been harvested, it’s time to plant another
crop. (This is a beginning.)
Timing. We all
have observed farmers in the fields planting during the spring and harvesting
in the fall. Which part of the month they
actually begin and end depends on many factors especially the weather and also where
they’re located. There is a different
timing for different crops. Of course there is a difference between when the
calendar says it’s time to plant and when planting actually occurs. Sometimes everything’s right on
schedule. And then you have those times
when the weather doesn’t cooperate and the planting is delayed. Frustration, anxiety, stress, and a feeling
of not being in control of something so vitally important to one’s livelihood
are all a part of a farmer’s life. Something
else is in control, and it isn’t the farmer. But have you also noticed that
despite the setbacks, a crop gets in the ground and a successful farmer will
continue on? Adjustments are made, and
they move on. Successful farmers don’t give
up and quit when things get tough. They
go to Plan A, and sometimes to Plan B, C, and D. They do whatever it takes to get the job
done. They are focused on the outcome NOT the immediate challenge and/or set back.
Obviously, then the last step of this process is the
harvest. The combines are out in the
fields late at night gathering in the “fruits” of all the hard work. Piles of hay are being stacked, grain is being
stored in the bins, and products are being shipped. Nobody is “clocking out”
after eight hours. There are no cutting corners just to get the job done. They work until the job is done and done
right. Many communities have their Fall Harvest
Festivals celebrating the abundance and the hard work of that season. Even with
the harvest complete, the work isn’t yet done.
The fields need to be replenished with nutrients, straw is baled, and
planning for the next season will begin soon.
It’s an evaluation time. Did the
type of seed used give the best yield?
Were there insects, weeds etc. that could have mitigated earlier or was
the timing accurate? What are the
changes and improvements we want to make for next year’s crop? (An ending to a season.)
For this week, I hope you can reflect on your “soil” as
this is the basis of everything that follows.
We all come from different backgrounds, different life situations,
different experiences, different memories of growing up etc. Without any judgment, our experiences are just
that – they are ours. If the goal is to “Be
the Best YOU, you can be,” then what have you been doing to create that “fertile
soil” so your life can support many abundant harvests? Pick out the good from your background that
you want to duplicate not only in your life but in the lives of those around
you whether it’s a spouse, a partner, children, grandchildren, friends etc. Are you focusing on getting better and
improving yourself on a regular basis? Are you reading books, magazines that
contribute to learning, growing, and expanding your thinking? Do you listen to inspiring CD’s, music,
lectures, and motivational speakers? Do
you surround yourself with people you love, admire, trust, can laugh with, and
you feel supported? Do you surround
yourself with people you can learn from, people who have experiences that you
can learn from, people who are learning and growing themselves, and most of all
people who walk their talk day in and day out in every area of their
lives? Are you putting good nutrients
into your body (“soil”) so that you can have abundance in your life? What are
you doing to contribute to a healthy basis for your life?
As with all successful farmers, they focus on the environment
and the soil where they want to plant their seeds. It’s the basis for what they
can do in the future, yet each year is new and different because of various factors.
They must be flexible and adapt to new/different ideas, new/different
situations, and they must be willing to do whatever it takes to get the best
results. Isn’t that the same for our
lives? Each year we’re older, we’ve had
many new/different experiences, we’ve learned new/different things, some things
didn’t work because of the timing, and other things now work because of
the timing.
I will continue with this analogy next week. For this week, I wish you time to read and
re-read this blog. What lessons from the
farmers can you take and apply to your own life? What is the “soil” that you are basing your
life on?
Here’s to a healthy mindset, and a daily dose of
gratitude and abundance.
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