Sunday Spirit

Sunday Spirit…My Slice of Life post.. and typically a garden lesson…. But today will be the last garden lesson until next year.

I view my garden this year as a gift.  I did not reap much of a harvest this year, yet another incredible year of lessons! The two things that thrived the most were the Artichoke Flowers and most recently, the sunflowers.  Massive sunflowers, at least 10 inches in diameter.

A few weeks ago, as I kept trying to figure out WHY the garden did not do well this year (AND driving myself crazy with it) I was given a glimpse of why…..

I went out to the garden to take a picture of my NO EXCUSES T-shirt.  (Yes, it hangs in a tree next to the garden as my Scarecrow) As I walked past all the markers where I had put all the supportive comments for my garden (I had pulled them all out to do some serious weeding)  I caught a glimpse of the cause.  A critter, sitting on the edge of the bottom of the fence…peeking at me through a small hole.  A ground squirrel.  He sat there with what appeared to be a big smile holding something in his tiny hands.  My cat sat ready to pounce just a few feet away.  Then he scurried off.

THAT was my answer.  It wasn’t anything I had or had not done, it was just nature taking its own course.  So, I stopped the struggle of trying to produce something out of the garden and made the decision to let it go until next year.  It had served up its purpose.

But it still had one more surprise, one more gift for me….The beautiful, gorgeous sunflowers that opened up this past week.  I took a couple to work to enjoy and then left on someone’s desk when I left with no note.  Just the flowers.   Princess V took a couple to school to give to her teachers.  And yes, I have a few more left in the garden.

Sometimes its not about the fruit or the end product, nature has its own plan, its own time frame….that’s life…but there will ALWAYS be an answer and a little joy when we let go of the outcome and just listen and pay attention!

We don’t know…what we don’t know……Just like the scale….it is only one tiny measure of our progress and there may be things blossoming or going on when we are not looking.  This lesson came at a perfect time for me (as it usually does).  My weigh-in last Friday, I was exactly the same.  But I measured myself and I have lost 6 inches.  I posted on WD last week about all the things I have gained.   Out of my Slice of Life wheel…my two lowest slices  body image and self-care have moved up from a 3 to a 6.  THAT is something that truly can’t be measured by the scale!

This week starts my weight training.  I am scared, nervous, yet..I am on a mission.. My mission of 50 by 50.  I actually have gotten past my *fear* of being present in my body and I am ready to take on this new part of paying attention to my body even more……..

What Spirit moves you today?