Weeds and seeds
It begins with painstakingly planted bulbs. (Image by Todd MacDonald)
The other day, while on the phone with one of my close associates, I beheaded every dandelion in my yard.
My lawn, inherited from the couple who lived here for 60 years before my husband and I purchased the home from their estate, is a classic New England weed lawn. There’s some grass in there, but it’s mostly clover, crabgrass, wild violets, and other stuff that was all over my grandmother’s lawn but I don’t know the name of.
I don’t really care that much about the dandelions, but it will be an interesting experiment. How long will it take for the dandelion blooms to proliferate once again?
My money is on “not long.” I only pulled up or lopped off the dandelions I could see. there’s also all of the dandelions that are about to bloom, plus the extensive taproot system on established plants. I’m doomed to dandelions for quite some time.
Springtime is full of these types of rapid changes, with flowers showing up seemingly overnight. Sometimes such developments are exciting, like the crocuses that appeared suddenly in my garden in mid-March, and sometimes they’re less welcome, like the spiny thistle that elicited a rude word while on the same phone call the other day. Regardless, these “overnight successes” are like any other kind: they are the result of deep roots (in this case, literally).
We know that for individuals and businesses, overnight success is never a surprise to those involved; it is the result of habits and hard work. We know that we also tend reap what we sow when it comes to negative events in our lives, from tooth decay to a citation for having an expired automobile registration. However, even though we know all this, we don’t always behave in ways that are going to give us what we want in the long term. It may help to begin with the end result in mind and work backward from there to figure out what we should (or shouldn’t) be doing in order to get the outcome we’re actually looking for.
For example, my favorite type of email goes something like this: “Hi, Casey! I got your name from [trusted person]. I was wondering if you could help me with [juicy and interesting problem].” In order to receive an email like this, I have to cultivate relationships with people I’ve either helped or who know how I can help others. If I want to receive more of these emails, I have to get out there and help people and invite them to spread the word. It is very simple.
If my least favorite type of mail goes something like, “This is your third and final notice. If we do not receive payment immediately, [essential service] will be discontinued on [date that is uncomfortably close at hand],” then I need to open my mail more consistently, have a system for paying bills on time, a budgeting practice so that I don’t run out of money, and a source of income to fund my desired lifestyle. Although I have not always been successful in one or more of these elements, it is, again, very simple.
A quick scroll of Facebook will turn up all kinds of examples of your acquaintances being blindsided by their bad luck or pretending to be surprised by their successes. It is often possible to look a bit deeper and see how this person’s habits and choices have led them to exactly this point. We’ll never know the whole story, and none of that conjecture has to change the compassion, comfort, or kudos we give them. However, we do have to take into consideration the unseen roots if we dare to compare someone else’s life to our own. If we want a similar result (or to prevent one), we can’t just hope. We have to figure out the actions that are under our control that will lead us where we want to go.
Some of the weeds in my yard have been there for decades. If I truly want to eradicate them, it will take consistent effort over time. They have a long head start that allows them to keep popping up, as if by magic. But we know it’s not magic. If I want that kind of apparent effortlessness in my own life, it starts with laying the groundwork beneath the surface. Today’s planting is tomorrow’s yield.
What seeds did you plant long ago that are now blooming? What foundation can you establish today for the result you want to create tomorrow? And what are the actions that you’ll take? I’d love to hear in the comments.
