How Life Works

Summer is the time of year when things grow.

Living here in the land of endless summer can confuse people. They begin to think that fruit and vegetables come from a store. It is easy to forget that we plant seeds, tend them, and wait patiently for them to produce growth.

We may also forget that we work the same way. We sow seeds in our lives, care for them, and they grow.

It is easy for us to forget, to believe in magic. The qualities we would like to have appear in us. We want to be more productive, and we can will it to happen. We hope to make a secure life and, abracadabra, we pull it out of a hat.

While I believe in the powerful magic of life, I do not believe life works that way.

We harvest what we plant. Long before the summer growing season, we sow the seeds that determine the crops we will produce. We put our values into practice, and our lives bear fruit.

The seeds we sow in our own lives often spread over into the lives of the people around us.

We cannot plant seeds of impatience or laziness and expect to take in a crop of lush, abundant joy.

Fortunately, the decisions we have made are not irreversible. It takes hard work and may be painful, but change is possible.

We may need to plough up what has been planted and begin preparing the soil for a new crop. We may need to fertilize the ground and choose our seeds wisely.

Life takes hard work. It will pay off in the long run. That is how life works.

What is growing in your life this summer?

How would you like to change what grows in you for next summer?

[Image by Lauren Tucker]