What kind of plant are you? Philosophical lessons from a garden

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying watching my garden grow this June. I was worried because it was so wet, and I wasn’t able to get the plants and seeds in until much later than usual. But now things are taking off! The tomato plants are getting tall and dark green with blossoms and a few tiny tomatoes.  The peppers look big and bushy, and the cabbage and broccoli have huge, beautiful leaves. The beans and spinach were very slow to get started, but they are finally growing, too.   

I get great joy in walking down to the garden every day to see what’s changed. It amazes me how a little sunshine, good soil, and some rain can produce loads of veggies from the tiniest of seeds.  I think of how it’s a wondrous miracle that’s easily taken for granted.

It also struck me how we’re all like the plants in the garden.

• We have the ability to live a great life, but if we don’t get the stuff we need to help us grow and flourish, we’ll never achieve our full potential.  Some things that jump to my mind are our environment, our nutrition, our friends and family, our thoughts, etc.
• We’re all different kinds of plants, with somewhat different needs to fully thrive. The best conditions for one might not be the best for another. We have to find the combination that works for us.
• As different plants, we also produce different “fruit.”  That means we should be true to our abilities and strengths (our fruit) and not compare ourselves to others.  For example, if I’m a summer squash, I shouldn’t envy or try to be like the onion plant.

Are you creating a life that provides the things you need to flourish?  Are you appreciating and using your strengths and abilities (your fruit)?

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Tina Hallis, Ph.D. is Chief Positivity Officer of The Positive Edge, a company dedicated to helping people and organizations increase their positivity to improve the quality of people’s work lives and the quality of company cultures. She is certified in Positive Psychology, an authorized partner for Everything DiSC®, and a Professional Member of the National Speaker’s Association