Tag: Learning

What Gardening Taught Me About Life

Every spring, I take a trip to buy some beautiful flowers to plant in my garden. I always debate over buying annuals or perennials and somehow, I always end up going with annuals. Seeing my flowers come back every year would be nice and a money-saver, however, there is something special about going to pick out different varieties and color combinations each year.

Around the middle of May, when frost is no longer a threat, I go out to the garden and dig up the dirt, remove any weeds, trim the bushes and plants, and then lay down a fresh layer of new dirt. Once this is all done, I head to the store to bring home the flowers!

Pure Happiness

Flowers, plants, and just gardening in general bring me so much joy, it is so therapeutic! I find so much peace while being in nature and digging through the earth. The beauty of nature is indescribable, it is amazing and always leaves me in awe!

My beloved grandmother adored gardening as well as my aunt, maybe I got the passion from them! I tend to go overboard with wanting many plants and flowers, but space is limited, so I just pick out three or four of the flowers that strike me the most.

A Reminder

A week ago I planted my garden! I dug a deep hole in the fresh dirt and then squeezed the sides of the plastic flower pot that it came in to wiggle the flower and its roots out. I then placed the flower inside the hole and covered it up with fresh dirt, making sure to pack the dirt all around the sides to secure the plant in place. I did this with all of the flowers and once I was done, it was time to give them a shower! I took the garden hose and sprayed them down, giving them a good soaking of water.

It is amazing how we are reminded of certain aspects of life and ourselves as we go about our daily lives. When I was gardening, I had a deep thought cross my mind. The combination of the dirt, soil, and sun allows the flower to flourish. Without these basic necessities, the flower would not be able to live and thrive to its fullest potential.

The dirt and sun are there daily; however, water is not a guarantee. When it rains, the flowers get plenty of needed water, but when there are days or a week without rain, I need to water them myself. To a point, the flowers have to rely on me to take care of them.

Application

So, how does this apply to human life? When we are given positive surroundings and the means to survive, we flourish. When we have fresh air, water, food, shelter, love, and money to make ends meet, we can live comfortably. Just like the flowers that have their own requirements, when ours are met, we can blossom into the beautiful people that we are.

Just like flowers need to rely on someone to water them when the rain is absent, we may also need to lean on others for support.

If we are not happy and not thriving, it might be helpful to look at the conditions in which we live. Some can be changed, and others cannot for the time being, but the answer may lie here. As human beings, when we are happy, it generally means that our needs are being met!

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A Childhood Experiment Taught Me A Lesson

Growing up, my sister and I were always into something. We loved creative play and we spent most of our days either inside using our imagination or outside soaking up nature and all that it had to offer. We had many toys, electronics, and games, but somehow, we always turned to creative play. We wanted to make up our own games and we thrived on the newness of what we came up with.

Most of the time, our play revolved around the toys that we had and sometimes items that were lying around the house. We weren’t children that ever really got bored, there was always something to do or create, and our minds never stopped wondering.

The Importance of Money

My parents taught my sister and I from a young age to save money in our piggy banks. We knew that we could use some of the money for candy or toys, but that we should save most of it. My parents instilled the importance of saving money from a young age.

I remember all of the times that we tried to make money for fun as many kids do. There were lemonade stands, yard sales, and even helping to pet sit. Our minds were always turning to see what we could come up with next.

An Idea!

I cannot remember whose idea it was because we were so young, but we had this great idea to see if we could “trick” the tooth fairy into leaving us money. We had recently lost teeth and thought that it was amazing that we were able to get money in return. No other teeth were loose, so we thought that we would make some! Yes, you read that right, we wanted to make some teeth and put them under our pillow to see if the tooth fairy would bring us money.

We searched around the house to find the perfect thing to use. After a while, it dawned on us that we could use a bar of soap to make “teeth!” Kids sure have vivid and creative imaginations. We got a bar of white soap and started carving away with smiles on our faces. We talked with such excitement as we made several teeth to lay under our pillow. We were thrilled with the way that they turned out. They looked so real; we eagerly showed our parents and told them the plan.

Nightfall

The day had come to a close as night fell. My sister and I put the “teeth” under our pillows and went to bed so excited to see if the tooth fairy was going to notice if the teeth were real or not. We couldn’t wait for the morning to arrive!

Morning came and my sister and I were giddy with excitement to see if we had been left any money under our pillows. We peeked under the pillows and to our surprise, there was no money! The only thing that was staring back at us were the teeth that we made out of soap. We were bummed!

Life Lesson Learned

Kids are naturally curious about the world. They love to experiment; this is how they learn! I do remember feeling guilty the next morning. I felt bad that we had tried to trick the tooth fairy. We realized that when she didn’t give us money, we were not given it because we were not “honest.” We didn’t lose any teeth; they were fake teeth. Yes, striving to make money creatively is wonderful, but it needs to be done honestly. I learned that rewards come by doing things the right way. Deceit does not come with a reward. Everything that we earn should be done the honest way.

My sister and I were too young to try this experiment maliciously. We always had fun being creative and experimenting as young kids do, but at least for me, it really made me sit back and think. I could directly relate the lack of money under my pillow to not being truthful. Our curiosity was the drive in this experiment, the result was not what we had hoped for, but it was a learning experience.

As we age, there are many different experiments that we might try. We are all learning about life as we go. Along the way, we realize that life is one big experiment and test. We learn a little bit more about ourselves and the world around us every day.

My College Major Changed Me

I have been out of college for many years now, but I can tell you one thing, the major that I choose has changed my life.

I’d like to say that it has changed me for the better, however, it has also changed me for the worse.

Background

Once I graduated high school, I was not certain which path I wanted to take in terms of a college major. I was always told to just feel each subject out and see which one that I was drawn to, it sounded easy and like great advice and it ended up being just that!

I had many classes that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would say that my top two subjects were Psychology and English. I loved both for different reasons. Given the nature of the job that I wanted to pursue at the time and an extreme interest and passion mine, I chose to major in Psychology. Little did I know, it would change the way that I saw myself and the world around me forever.

My Love

Psychology drew me in because I have always been fascinated with the human mind and finding out why people behave the way that they do. We are all born as blank slates, yet we all develop into very different beings, that is fascinating to me!

As I took many Psychology courses over the years, I learned so much about myself and the world around me. I was able to understand why I had become the person that I was and how the brain works and responds to people and life situations. I was able to understand others better with this newfound knowledge and empathy that came with it.

It was almost as though Psychology was the book of life, it felt as if this subject held all of the answers to the complexity of the human mind and behavior. I was captivated!

The Downside

As with many things in life, there are usually positives and negatives. I adore Psychology and all that it entails, but learning this subject to the extent that I did was detrimental to me in some ways.

Years after I graduated from college, I noticed that my anxiety was much worse than it usually had been. I have dealt with extreme anxiety since I was very little. I began to realize that the way that we are taught this subject and the ways that they have us learning the material truly changed the way that my brain responded to life and even to myself.

In Psychology, we were taught to analyze, analyze, and analyze some more. We were taught to observe very carefully and taught to look at people, situations, and ultimately life in many different ways. Yes, this sounds like a great thing and it is to an extent, but it became a constant in my life.

Taking Over

I found myself analyzing my life, thoughts, and behavior to an extreme. Psychology teaches you that there is a reason behind everything and that includes people’s actions. Therefore, I was always hunting for reasons and the meaning behind everything.

I started seeing life in many different aspects. I started viewing other people very differently, I was so curious as to why and how people behaved the way they did. It seemed as though I was always searching for information to complete my analysis and observations.

I wasn’t comfortable with this new way of viewing life. I understand that these are all necessary and helpful skills to have, especially if one is to become a therapist or social worker for example, however for me, it was overpowering, and I wasn’t able to separate myself from it.

Question

I know several of you talented individuals are in the field of Psychology. For those of you that are therapists, social workers, or even those that majored in Psychology as well, did you ever notice a drastic change in the way that you viewed life and other people after studying Psychology?

Closing

This subject was and still is my favorite subject of all time. I truly adore it and there is always so much to learn and gain. There are many times that I wish that my mind wasn’t so “stuck” in Psychology mode, but given this, I still would have chosen to major in this field.

It’s pretty amazing to me that what we expose ourselves to in our life truly does have a tremendous impact on us. Just a little food for thought as you go about your day. Surround yourself with good people and try to live life the best that you can, we are like sponges are we are truly changed by what we experience for better or for worse.

Life Needs a Manual

To the person who just got dumped, left their job, or had a falling out with their best friend. Wouldn’t it be great if life had a manual?

Life is hard enough. Many of us have someone that we can turn to that can help us get through a rough patch and show us some guidance, but many do not. Regardless, it can be hard to know how to navigate some of life’s tricky circumstances.

Life’s Answers 

I can envision a manual now. We would flip to page 89 to help us get through a breakup, and flip to page 344 to deal with fair-weather friends. Page 778 will inform us on what to do when we are facing the decision whether or not to stay at a job.

As helpful as a manual would be, it would also be too easy. Life is such a journey and it’s meant to be lived, experienced, and discovered.

Ups and Downs

We can play the comparison game and think that everyone else’s life is perfect and that we somehow got the short end of the stick, but we know that life happens to us all because we belong to the human race and there is no such thing as perfection.

We are all living and experiencing life for the first time. We are only given one precious life, so everyone that we see is just doing the best they can. No one truly knows what they are doing, but we are trying.

We just need to do the best that we can with what we are given. We are developing our own life manual as we go along. We have a collection of experiences that we can refer to down the line if we need them.

A Reminder

Each situation and person that we encounter offers us a learning experience and is an opportunity for growth. Through trials and challenges, we learn about ourselves and the world around us.

As you create your life manual, keep a mental tab of what does and does not work for you in life. You will have a place to resort to in the future when the going gets tough!

My Life Lesson

I truly believe that we are all on this Earth to grow and learn specific lessons as we journey through life.

I am a big believer in the afterlife, and I feel that our journey in a physical body is a temporary one that goes through life experiences to grow the soul and prepare us for our permanent home.

The Saying Goes

It seems as though the saying that life’s situations keep repeating themselves until learned is true. I have noticed myself in similar situations time and time again and each time that I think I will handle it with grace and handle it better, it doesn’t happen.

Needless to say, the situation pops back into my life, willing to give me another try. I believe that once we master what the lesson is trying to teach us, it will go away, and we can then focus on other tasks to learn.

I almost view our life here on Earth like a school, where we are here to learn lessons that will power our souls once we reach Eternity.

Life Lesson

There are two life lessons that I can think of right off the bat that present themselves to me often. These are being truly authentic and having more patience.

Although I feel that being more authentic, vulnerable, and not being afraid to be me is a major lesson for me, I feel that having more patience is an even bigger lesson, so that is the one that I will focus on for this story.

Patience is a Virtue

I have had a lot happen to me in my life, a lot more than I ever expected to go through given that I am in my thirties. When I reflect on past events, it seems that a lot of the time my anxiety, worry, and stress revolved around not being patient with myself or with the world around me.

My anxious mind causes me to want to know things immediately so that they do not cause me more stress. The anxious me wants everything that I need or want to happen right now so that I don’t have to stress over when or if it will happen in the future.

I tend to have great patience with other people, but with anything regarding myself and my life, I need to work on being patient. I need to trust that things will work out for me. I need to trust that in time things that I need, or desire will come to me at the right time.

I also need to trust myself, so that I can learn to be more patient. I can try to work on the anxiety that drives me to have less patience with things outside of my control. Often, I will look at an important date on the calendar and I am eager for it to arrive, and then in a blink of an eye, it is here. Those days spent worrying flew by.

Worth Waiting For

Waiting is unfortunately a part of life, one that we may not be fond of, but one that we cannot control, nonetheless.

With many things, it is a hope that the things that we need and want will be worth the wait. Life is about learning and becoming the strongest person that we can be.

In the perfect world, we would have everything we want and need immediately, and although that brings instant gratification, it may also lessen the beauty of what we have and strive for. Our motivation may be out the window if everything was given immediately.

Here I Sit

It is up to me to be at peace with the unknown as hard as that is. The unknown is scary and causes great anxiety, however, there is a lot of hope and excitement in the unknown.

It takes great strength and trust to sit back and let life unfold the way it is meant to. This goes back to living every day as it comes and living it to the fullest because life can change at any moment.

I am slowly learning, but patience truly is a virtue.