Reproduced from the latest newsletter sent out to subscribers of my website:
Vines have been on my mind a lot lately.
Just outside my kitchen window is a sprawling grapevine planted by the people that used to live in our house.
The grapevine has spread all across the underside of the pergola, forming a lovely cool canopy in summer. Tendrils twirl around the washing line. When random vines intertwine, they form a bond so strong it can only be severed by a pair of secateurs.
The funny thing about the vines is: the more I prune them, the faster they seem to grow. They practically beg to be trimmed, leaning down into my face so that I walk right into them and have to notice their presence.
Nature has a lesson for us here.
As we go through life, there are times of reaping and harvest, when everything goes smoothly and it feels like life can't get more wonderful than this.
Then there are times of setbacks and challenges, the valley times, when every step is pain and struggle and loneliness.
When bad things happen, some people react as if they have been punished.
"Why is this happening?"
"Why me?"
"What have I done to deserve this?"
How Pruning Leads To New Growth
I prefer to think of hard times as a time of Pruning.
According to How To Grow Grapes: Choosing Varieties, Vines, Pruning, Trellis
by Linette Gerlach, there are two very good reasons for regularly pruning your grapevine.
One: Pruning allows maximum airflow and sunshine to reach the fruit. If you do not prune, you will have less fruit, and the fruit you do get will be smaller in size.
Two: If you do not prune, your grapevine will become unruly and harvest time will be tough.
I believe the same applies to how we live our lives. You and I are the vine, and our families, relationships, careers - all the things to which we daily apply our energy and creativity - are the fruits.
If we do not regularly perform a self-check to weed out the things that impede our personal growth - bad habits, false beliefs, an unhealthy lifestyle, poor relationships - we will find at the end of the journey that the fruits we produce are less powerful, less lasting, less sweet, and fewer than they might have been.
Every day is a good day to pause and check what needs to be pruned from our lives, so that we can grow Stronger, Bigger, Better.
Why not make a start today?
See you next month.
THOUGHT OF THE MONTH
The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without,
the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.
Horace Bushnell
Seeds of faith are always within us;
sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth.
Susan Taylor
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