The StepsThe process of searching and inventoring our lives can in some ways be compared to the act of weeding a garden.
First we must make a list of all items, goods, or habits we can identify. The act of identifying significant traits, habits, or posessions needs to be complete. We cannot overlook "small things", as these tend to build up and with time can take up a lot of space and energy in our lives.
If you were to inventory your "Garden of life", a good way would be to note all of the positive items or abilities you have accumulated in your life time. Those being worth the effort to save should be nurtured, and allowed to thrive. If there are things that you feel positive about, yet unsure if they are of enough significance to expend energy on, put them aside to be looked at in the future.
The easiest weeds to identify are those habits or routines that are damaging to your "garden of life". These may be habits you have been engaged in for quite some time and seem almost natural to you. But if you look at them in the cold clear light of day, you can realize that they are only damageing to your life and to those around you.
Not only can these " weeds" be of damage to you, but they can produce more habits or traits which spread out beyond your life and entangle those around you. They choke out the positive aspect of our lives, and if let go unchecked, can not only cause problems, but kill the entire garden.
Getting rid of these weeds is difficult work and sufficient time must be set aside to accomplish this task. This is not something that can be done in a day, a week, or in sometimes, years. It requires a commitment to work at even if you are not in the mood to do so at the time.
Those items you feel strongly enough about to keep and maintain should be promptly noted and plans should be made for strenghtining these. This may be as simple as an occasional acknowedgement of their existance, or working to "fertilize" them with study, schooling, or just a regular routine of "exercising" them to keep them ready and in the best of health. Just as you might fertilize and feed the plants in your garden that are healthy, you need to do so with your life to keep it strong and productive.
Then the hard part of weeding comes. You might need to identify dreams, wishes or desires that have not yet fully matured, and make a decision as to which you truly are willing to expend energy on and promote. You must also acknowelege the areas which may have at one time seemed important or worthy, but now may be unattainable, or need too much energy or time to keep alive. Just as cutting off a damaged or desised branch on a tree allows the tree to expend more energy on new growth, doing so with your plans or activities frees up more energy or time to work on the ones you have decided are of importance in your life.
One of the problems with a garden is that the weeds are continually growing, and the same too with our lives. We cannot be satisfied with straightening things up once and then be hopefull that it will remain so. Periodic checkups are needed, the garden must be maintained on a regular basis. In a real garden even a few days or weeks of neglect is enough to let the garden become overgrown with weeds. The concept of "working the steps" is necessary to remind us of the weeds that are about to spring to life. We must keep an eye out not only for all those weeds established, but for those just begining to grow also.
� 1995The Saturday Morning Group
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