Struggling avocado plants I kill stuff.
Plants mostly, since I insist my spouse kill anything with more than four legs that has the audacity to crawl or fly into our house. I've often imagined impressing others with my flourishing pot garden, but I have absolutely zero talent in that area. Yet, I'm fascinated with the process of getting avocado pits to sprout (my success rate is about 60% ,) so several times a year I go on an avocado-eating binge and line a windowsill with pits hanging in water. The sprouters usually get potted. And then, they die.
Plants mostly, since I insist my spouse kill anything with more than four legs that has the audacity to crawl or fly into our house. I've often imagined impressing others with my flourishing pot garden, but I have absolutely zero talent in that area. Yet, I'm fascinated with the process of getting avocado pits to sprout (my success rate is about 60% ,) so several times a year I go on an avocado-eating binge and line a windowsill with pits hanging in water. The sprouters usually get potted. And then, they die.
Sprouts begging to be potted. The survival chances for a sprouting avocado in my hands is similar to those of many of my endeavors: exercise routines, healthy eating, organizing, blogging...I start with enthusiasm, do the background research and preparation, and dive right in. I make progress! reach goals! revel in my success! And then I slowly begin to backslide, get distracted, drift away. At some point I realize that yet another of my ventures has died due to lack of nurturing.
Anyone who has successfully reached a diet or fitness goal can vouch for the reality that achieving the goal is the easy part. The real work is maintaining the achievement.
Last year provided an opportunity for me to shape daily and weekly routines that fed my health in every sense of the word - physically, mentally, spiritually. Although learning Spanish fell by the wayside when the in-person classes stopped, I filled my homebound time with daily walks and yoga sessions (which had moved online), webinars, Bible studies, regular video dates with friends, and reading some of those novels I'd been wanting to get to. My high school best friend/partner in crime and I supported each other in a 40-day sugar fast, which jump-started another attempt at healthier eating. I decluttered closets, cupboards, corners, and countertops. By the time summer was waning, I was feeling at the top of my game. I'd found a rhythm I could both hum and dance to.
Anyone who has successfully reached a diet or fitness goal can vouch for the reality that achieving the goal is the easy part. The real work is maintaining the achievement.
Last year provided an opportunity for me to shape daily and weekly routines that fed my health in every sense of the word - physically, mentally, spiritually. Although learning Spanish fell by the wayside when the in-person classes stopped, I filled my homebound time with daily walks and yoga sessions (which had moved online), webinars, Bible studies, regular video dates with friends, and reading some of those novels I'd been wanting to get to. My high school best friend/partner in crime and I supported each other in a 40-day sugar fast, which jump-started another attempt at healthier eating. I decluttered closets, cupboards, corners, and countertops. By the time summer was waning, I was feeling at the top of my game. I'd found a rhythm I could both hum and dance to.
Thriving despite me. Inspiring persistence. Then stay-in-place morphed into socially-distanced mask-wearing outings. My calendar began to fill up with more face-to-face activities, the days grew shorter and colder, and I lost my rhythm. I got distracted, started drifting, backsliding.
However, like this sorry-looking kalanchoe that persists in not only surviving despite my neglect, but actually blooming, I am digging my figurative roots in a little deeper. This year, I will cultivate those habits and practices that benefitted me last year.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, cultivate means to foster the growth of; improve by labor or study; encourage.
I may not be able to cultivate a flourishing garden, but I can certainly foster my own growth. I can plan a bit and flex around those things not planned for. I can harness the highs of successes to encourage me to keep on keeping on.
My word for 2021 is cultivate. When this year comes to an end, I may be a tad more tattered and straggly, but I intend to be blooming.
#wmwcultivate, #personalgrowth, #2021word
However, like this sorry-looking kalanchoe that persists in not only surviving despite my neglect, but actually blooming, I am digging my figurative roots in a little deeper. This year, I will cultivate those habits and practices that benefitted me last year.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, cultivate means to foster the growth of; improve by labor or study; encourage.
I may not be able to cultivate a flourishing garden, but I can certainly foster my own growth. I can plan a bit and flex around those things not planned for. I can harness the highs of successes to encourage me to keep on keeping on.
My word for 2021 is cultivate. When this year comes to an end, I may be a tad more tattered and straggly, but I intend to be blooming.
#wmwcultivate, #personalgrowth, #2021word
