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Cultivating Your Inner Garden- Harvesting & Final Thoughts
By Dr Nikki Judge
This week marks the completion of our series on cultivating the garden of your soul. We started twelve weeks ago with the stages of initial planning, review and decisions and have gone through the entire process of cultivating a strong Spiritual Garden of the Soul.
It is easy for the gardener. The fruits of their labor are literal. For the Spiritual Gardener of the Soul the results of efforts may take a little time to be evident.
Results can come in phases:
The gardener has been harvesting a little here and a little there out of the garden all along the way. First it was the radishes, then the peas, then the beans, lettuces, spinaches, chard; all have been being harvested in their own time for the best taste and freshness. Thus the gardener has enjoyed the results of his efforts for much of the summer.
In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we may not see immediate results from the tending of our garden. However, we should be seeing small things here and there that show us things are changing. Most change and advancement does not come immediately… it comes after application of determined effort and energy. But, once the change and advancement happens, a true harvest is obtained.
A well tended garden increases it’s bounty over time:
Now that the growing season is coming to a close for most of the residents in the neighborhood garden, the gardener is already removing dead vegetation, turning soil, and adding manure to help feed the soil for next year’s crop. Compost from the compost heap is thrown over the parts of the garden that have been cleared. By starting right away the gardener is ensuring that the next spring planting will have the best chance of success.
In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we should be seeing how the successes and positives that make the flowers and fruit of our garden form a framework from which we can move onward, secure in the knowledge that we are moving forward and making headway in the direction we want to go. Our lives are made up of building blocks and through the work we have done in our garden we have made ourselves stronger and given ourselves an even more solid foundation to launch our next venture from.
Lifelong benefits:
Knowing how to garden is like knowing how to fish. For the gardener the lifelong benefits from gardening are better health promoted by eating properly, the satisfaction of knowing he/she knows how to raise food to put on the table. Knowing how to garden and raise food gives a sense of independence and determination to the backyard gardener. Hence, besides better health from the physical activity of gardening, the gardener feels empowered and can help his neighbors.
In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we can see where the choices we have made are making changes in our lives. Some are only small little things like trying to smile more while others are huge – such as whether to move or not. Through developing your Spiritual Garden you have created a place to go to be able to review the life you are living and if you are living true to yourself.
Final Thoughts:
We are the gardeners of our lives – both physical and spiritual. Through being active gardeners in our Spiritual Garden of the Soul, through facing our fears and accepting our wins and failures we can create the life we hope to have. It is through reviewing our past for successes and failures, aligning our goals, dreams and needs, taking time to find out who we are, connecting with our physical self, making room for the new, and making the choices that truly reflect what we desire that we can move our lives forward toward a successful future.
Cultivating Your Inner Garden- Harvesting
By Dr Nikki Judge
The weekend gardener prepares for the harvest long before it begins, as when it is time to harvest having things ready make the harvesting easier and takes less time. Even before the major harvest has begun the gardener is checking the garden to see what plants are ready. The summer squash continues to bloom and push out new flowers, pushing for more and more room.
In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we need to prepare for our personal harvests. We have to feel we are worthy of that success in order for it to mean something to us; we have to learn to push fears aside, to create an environment that will allow for success. It is the well tended garden that bears the most produce and it is the well tended Spiritual Garden of the Soul that bears the greatest happiness.
Reward
The neighborhood gardener has a very tangible reward – literally the fruits of their labor. The time spent stringing beans has resulted is a bounty of long firm beans ready to be put up for winter fare. The summer squashed are harvested almost every day and are offered to neighbors and friends.
In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we also are seeing our reward. With the work we have done tending our Spiritual Garden our reward is that we are closer to our center and knowing who we are. We have looked inside ourselves – at both the good and the bad and, hopefully, started to make the changes we see that need to be made.
Now we get to enjoy the rewards of tending our Spiritual Garden of the Soul. We know who we are, we know what we want, we know where we are going and we know how we are going to get there. It is through the process of tending our garden that we are able to realize our true bounty and fulfillment.
Bounty & Fulfillment
The gardener enjoys the bounty of the well tended garden! For the rest of the summer he will enjoy a harvest that fills not only his larder but allows for him to donate a row of food for his local food bank, give to the neighbors and put up plenty of food for several months. Not to mention the pride of nurturing and preparing the garden.
In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we cannot forget to find the bounty and fulfillment that is there for us! It is in our Spiritual Garden that we reach to find the core of who we are. Knowing our strengths we can celebrate! The trick with Spiritual bounty and fulfillment is that it may come in a manner in which we do not expect. If you are spending all your energy searching for a pre-conceived notion of bounty it is likely you will not feel as abundantly blessed as if you accepted the surprises that come your way.
Well earned
The gardener surveys their garden plot with a sense of satisfaction. Through his/her efforts the garden has gone from a patch of dirt to a vibrant living thing producing food to support many people. Happy with the obvious results of their efforts the gardener is able to feel secure in a well-earned reward.
We are told over and over that “nothing is for free.” We must note however that it is those things without a price tag have the most meaning. Here is where you can take closure for yourself, reward yourself for doing the work to come back to who you are and knowing what is important to you. You can now relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors and the knowledge of who you are.