Remeber that beautiful spring Saturday at the beginning of May where it hit 27oc? The sun was shining, the sky was clear with a lovely baby blue hue. A perfect kind of day you may even say.
If you live in England you know days like these are rare, and whilst I would have loved to spend the day out on the beach or have a simple picnic at one of my favourite spots with some friends, there was something I needed to tend to first. And that was ...gardening!
My biggest nightmare! A few weeks before this my front garden looked pretty decent. Things were growing, flowers blooming and it was nice to look at. However, before I knew it what once was a pretty little patch of garden turned into a wilderness mess and things were overgrowing everywhere you looked!
I dreaded the task of gardening because of its big production (to me anyway).
First, you got to invest in the right tools, then you got to learn how to use the tools, next is the actual gardening part and then the tidying up. Quite a lot of work for a day off in my opinion.
But with the bushes needing a good haircut and with the weeds (who seemed to have just sprung rapidly overnight) taking over the walkway, I knew I needed to take some time out and get on with it. Suck it up as they say. #adultlife
So I did. I started with picking a great playlist to get me pumped, applied plenty of sunscreen lotion and started on the weeds. As I was gardening I can't but help but hear God teaching me a lesson. Btw, don't you just love how our Father can use the mundane, everyday life experience to talk to us? Anway, as I looked at the pathway and started pulling the weeds, I realised it was not until I was faced with the task that I started noticing how much I have neglected my garden. And whilst pulling out the weeds I was thinking about my own life (as you do) and asked myself, are there things the I have neglected and do I need to start facing those things before it becomes a wilderness, neglected and never resolved but it still keeps on growing? Are there weeds in my life that need pulling out?
I'm sure there are many times we get so caught up in our everyday, busy lives that the thing(s) needing our attention, slip through. We forget about them and it's only when they start growing bigger we start noticing "that thing" needs my time, energy and attention, or even worst it becomes so big and out of control, we are overwhelmed by it and we end up never tending to it.
So, how do we tend our garden?
If you don't know already this week is mental health awareness week and it is something I am personally passionate about. Maybe when I find more courage I will share my story with you.
But for now, I want to share what has helped me maintain good mental health (most days) which is taking it step by step and remember to work on it daily and constantly pulling out the weeds in my life. I like to start the day by taking some time for devotional. Spending some time in scripture and in prayer talking to my Father as this gives me so much peace to face the day ahead, putting on the full amor of God. Throughout the day is believing and holding onto faith that whatever comes my way, especially the not so fun stuff like stress, conflict, tiredness, workload, my Father has my back, he is still in control and learn to let go of the things out of my control. For the days that does seem like my garden is overgrowing, I pause, go for a run/ walk and spend some quality time with nature as that's what keeps me most grounded.
Are there some weeds in your life that need pulling out? Are there things that you can start attending daily in your life to take better care of yourself before you are faced with an overwhelmingly outgrown garden?
This could be getting more sleep, working a little less, drinking more water and eating better, talking to the people who you trust or diving back into the word from our Father that gives life. Whatever you need to do I hope you never have an outgrown and out of control garden.
I've also recently discovered this song on Spotify radio and just fell in love so I thought I will share, cause you know sharing is caring!
Much love,
P.S For Mental Health Awareness week the fab project Selfharm UK are talking about Stress and has been sharing some great tips throughout this week! Follow their Twitter and keep up-to-date!
