Plants

Things that went right today:

1) Finally got the little boys' room somewhat organized

2) Neighbor brought us some halloween cake and introduced herself.

3) Movie night at home with the kids

Imagine that you have two plants. Both healthy and vibrant. But you only have enough water and food for one of them each day. What do you do? You could give half to each plant. Over time they would both probably survive but would likely begin to droop some and lose their rich color. They would look sickly and sad even though they were still alive. Or you could pick which one you liked best and give it all of the attention. With adequate amounts of water and sunlight and fertilizer it will thrive and grow. The unnourished plant on the other hand will putter along for a short while until it one day dies from neglect. Partly because it had no food to grow on, but also because as so often happens in the natural world the healthy plant will probably have started to grow over it and choke it out.

So it is within each of us. We each have two sides to our personalities. The "bad guy" or biblical natural man side so to speak. And the "good guy" or spiritual part of our natures. Remember the old cartoons where they would show a character with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other? Both trying to influence him or her to their way of seeing things? Actually I don't think that is too far off of the truth. Symbolically of course. A battle rages within each of us every day to determine who we really are. And who we want to be. Which side will win depends entirely on us. Like the plants it will come down to which side we choose to feed. Which side we give nourishment and attention to. I can attempt in life to hang onto both, but since there is only so much "me" to go around that will probably result in a fractured sense of self, with neither side really thriving. Or I can consciously choose today which attributes I want to develop to form the character I truly desire. And then I can live them to the fullest. Give them my time. Give them my study. Give them the space and energy they need to expand and grow until they overpower less desirable traits. We do command our own destinies in spite of the fact that it seems at times that life is tossing us around some. Today I choose to become a more thankful and happy person. To show love and compassion to others. To serve and to help my brothers and sisters in this world. This is who I want to be. It is a lifelong process of becoming our best selves, just like with plants that need food and water every day to stay strong. A one time feeding will not do it. This blog is an effort to help focus and then refocus over and over again on joy and gratitude and the gifts of love and life. To help me grow into the woman I most want to be. Thank you so much to those friends and loved ones who are coming along for the ride with me. It means a lot.