How does your garden grow... (not just about plants)

I enjoy all living things. I enjoy helping things grow: people and plants. I enjoy planting and keeping a garden, but I may never know what exactly is growing in it. A garden is work. Even if you aren't one that seeks out plants and flowers, it's easy to identify an established, beautiful garden compared to something that looks like it came out of the movie Jumanji, an overgrown nightmare of weeds, grass and dead things. Someone I have a lot of respect for once said; If you plant tomato seeds... you get tomatoes! If you plant tulip seeds... you get tulips! And if you plant nothing... you get weeds!

Often we think even if we don't do anything, or put in any kind of effort, there will be no change. But unfortunately, the opposite is true. By procrastinating, or putting off a problem, a conflict, a test, something we're anxious or depressed about, it doesn't go away. By delaying the solution and not putting in the effort to make an improvement, the conflict or situation often becomes worse internally, externally or both.

In a garden, grass and weeds are always trying to creep in. So it takes daily effort to keep them out. Weeds will take water, space and food from the plants I like. As the flowers and plants I enjoy change through the seasons. Flower buds may need help being removed as they try fall off or as the leaves dry up. So, the plants need regular attention to stay healthy and strong. The soil also needs attention to make sure it has the right balance of nutrients and is watered at the right amount to support the plants.

In our lives, it takes effort to weed out negative thoughts, behaviors and sometimes people that take up valuable time, space and energy. As we grow through different seasons of our lives, we need to try new things and put away others. Change can be hard, but it's also a valuable skill. Self-care, like the soil, is the foundation which provides the daily strength and courage to be successful. Good sleep habits, nutrition, work-rest-play balance, exercise are a few valuable Self-Care tools.

A Growth Plan is intentional (planned), it's purposeful (steady) and it's deliberate (thoughtful). A Growth Plan is also future facing and requires Courage.

Contact us at Courageous EDGE if you or someone you know needs a Life Coach as a guide for their Growth Plan.

• Bryan