We’re each granted only so many days in life, as we know it. How do you judge if a day has been well-lived? I recently ran across a quote that I think has a lot of potential to ease stress for those of us who tend to be impatient and hard on ourselves.
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”
by Robert Louis Stevenson
So many people get really down on themselves because they want to achieve a certain goal, and it just isn’t happening soon enough. It doesn’t matter what goal a person sets. Change takes time. Setting a goal, and taking a step in the right direction is like planting a seed.
Seeds need time to grow. How well they grow, and how quickly, depends on many different conditions. For optimal growth, seeds need rich soil, sunshine, water, space, and consistent tending to grow into healthy plants. If you go out and plant a vegetable garden, you can’t harvest anything until the needs of the seeds have been met. There’s no way to rush it! Each seed is unique and has unique needs, and will sprout and grow only when those needs are met. It would be a complete waste of time to go out to a newly planted garden and curse it for taking so long to grow!
Why do we do that to ourselves? Why all the impatience and criticism when we’re usually each doing the best we can? If we know deep inside us that we need to make changes in how we live our lives, to give us the optimal chance to grow and flourish, we have that option. We wouldn’t plant a seed in a boggy area, if it needs sandy loam to grow well.
Remember that a day is full of possibilities, but often those possibilities take time to develop. Judge a day by the seeds of change you plant, and then gently tend and nurture your growth. You’ll be so much happier and less stressed.
Until next time,
Linda
This is just what I needed to hear today. How did you know? 🙂 I get impatient at times wanting things to happen in MY time frame. I needed this reminder to just relax, keep tending my seeds and give them time to grow and flourish. I feel less stressed already. Thanks so much, Linda, for this beautiful post!
Thank you, Renee, for writing such a beautiful response to the entry! We can learn a lot from nature. Can’t we? Our insecurities get in the way of our peace of mind sometimes. I’m sure that I wrote that post because I also needed the reminder. It’s human nature to try and control our lives, but it doesn’t seem to work too well for any of us.
I’m glad that you’re feeling less stressed now. Have a beautiful day full of lots of blessings!
Linda