A few weeks ago, I realised I hadn't weeded my garden in a while and it needed to be done. I was busy so I set time aside in 3 weeks to do it. When we first built our home, there was no garden and we had to create it from scratch. This meant I designed it, picked plants, engaged a landscaper and prepared the spaces for plants. We had a lot of clay in our soil and for our front garden, I spent 6 weeks with gypsum, turning over the garden beds before I planted anything. This way the soil would be perfect for the new plants and the hope was that they would not only survive but thrive. When I first put the plants in, they were small. I knew they would grow eventually and I was ok with having a 'work in progress' garden. It was work however. The soil was good and the plants were small, so it made way for a lot of weeds. In the beginning I would weed a few times a week, then once a week and this went on for a few years. It was usually quite a calming exercise which I quite enjoyed but it took a long time.
This past weekend when I was weeding, I went into the task thinking that I would be there for a while. I wasn't! It took me very little time to pick out the weeds as there were not as many as I had expected. This was strange considering we have had rain and I have not been able to get into the garden since the beginning of December. Why was this? Why were there not as many weeds as I had expected? After all, I had left the garden unattended for over 2.5 months, yet it seemed to be thriving with very few weeds. The answer; good stuff! The plants are now big enough to cover the garden beds which means there is not much room left for any weeds, there is only room for the good stuff, the plants.
"Fill your life with the Good Stuff and the weeds will take care of themselves."- Emily Linton
What was I taught during my 'weeding' experience? Fill your life with the GOOD stuff. We all have 'stuff' in our lives; the good, the bad, the ugly. We all have the same amount of limited time in our day. When we use that time to focus on the good things, for me this is God, family, home, connection, kindness etc, there is very little time to fill our lives with the not so good stuff.
So, when life is feeling bleak or you are overwhelmed by the weeds, try to put more of the good stuff in. Sure, we might need to keep weeding and by all means caring for the plants that are there but I've learned that as we fill our lives with the good stuff there just isn't much room for the bad and the ugly.
What is our weeding? Getting rid of those things in your life which are not serving your purpose, taking over or creating disharmony. Life is your garden bed, you can create whatever it is which brings you joy.
What are our plants? All the goodness you have in your life. Take time to smell the roses and enjoy the good which you do have, recognise what is there. Make sure you nourish those important relationships so they grow and flourish.
This week, your challenge is to identify what is your GOOD STUFF! What are the things you really value? what are the things you are spending your time on? Are they the same answers? How can you better align your time with your values so you are filling your life with all the good stuff. I've created this fun worksheet with a few questions you can answer when you are trying to weed your life and enable the good stuff to flourish. You could even share it with your family and discover what your family Good Stuff is.
There is plenty of Good Stuff around. Look for it, cultivate it, build it, grow it. As we fill our lives with the things which truely matter we realise how good it is to be, 'home centred'. You can download any of the Good Stuff Posters for FREE below:
Have a great week! I'd love to hear how you go weeding your garden and allowing the Good Stuff to flourish in your life. What is your Good Stuff? Chat on our socials or drop me a line at home-centred@outlook.com
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