New Life Lessons From Early Morning in the Garden

Today, I was amazed by the thoughts that came to me. I was working in the garden early in the morning and picked out some radishes first in season. While picking radishes, I noticed something which taught me a life lesson. Even though they were all in the same plot, some were ready and mature, while others were still tiny. 

My initial thought was that vegetables are like people.

Some need more time to mature than others. All the radishes I planted were from the same seed packet and grown in the same soil with the same amount of water. Yet still, each plant takes its own time to grow, and the other radishes are not bothered by it. So, I picked the mature radishes and let the other radishes take the time they needed to grow. 

As I thought about the radishes, I wished us humans would behave that way – myself included. We constantly push other people to succeed, especially those closest to us by imposing our point of view on them and trying to make them behave the way we expect. Always wanting them to be successful, earn A’s at school, and get into the best colleges. We even go as far as to want them to find the right partner. We always want the best for other people, especially our kids and friends. But let’s face it, sometimes we push too far and simply become controlling. Instead, if we were all like the radishes, we would merely let everyone develop on their own time. 

All we should do is provide the soil with a good foundation, water them with good values, and nurture them with love. Then, we need to let go and see them mature as they are ready.  It is amazing that something as simple as gardening could teach us a valuable life lesson. 

I moved to another area of my garden and found that a few of my herbs and flowers were dried out and had no life.

I decided to cut the stems of one of them and leave the roots. Then there was another dead plant, and I decided it was time to remove the plant entirely to make space for another plant. Once again, parallels between gardening and the way we humans work rushed into my head. I thought about the many times we have to let go of beliefs that no longer serve us, a life lesson to carry on. I also thought about the many times we hold onto things knowing that they do not serve us anymore and will not let us flourish. 

When I first moved from Jordan to California, I had all my beliefs and didn’t leave any behind.

I was holding tightly onto them as each year passed. As I had kids, I tried to raise them with my initial beliefs, but I quickly realized this would not be possible as I raised them in a different part of the world. There were so many beliefs that I grew up on that were not going to work for my kids. So instead, I choose my battles. The simplest differences included having friends over for a sleepover, dating, and going out. It felt like it was constantly a lost battle. So, I cut some of my beliefs and left those that seemed to work out for the best. 

Once I picked all the radishes that were ready, My husband ate a few of them, and I made radish pickles. We also had cabbages and red onion that I used the brine to pickle. I even roasted some, and to my surprise, they were delicious! Hope you try some of my radish recipes and enjoy them!  

Thank you for reading! I love to hear from you. Tell me what beliefs you let go of and what you keep holding on to that no longer serve you! Have you ever found yourself deep in thought in your garden? Let me know what you learned in the comments below!