Lesson 5: You May Have Weeded Today, But You’ll Probably Have to Weed Again Tomorrow

One afternoon, after work, I spent the rest of what was left of daylight weeding. As I said before I’m a bit OCD when it comes to tasks like this and with my trowel in one hand and a bucket in the other, any weed no matter how big or small was no match for me. By dusk I had pulled every, single, solitary sprout.

A few days later I was sitting by the window in the living room, just thinking and looking out over the backyard, when I noticed tiny green weeds pushing up through the dirt in the garden beds I had just weeded (!). Seriously?

So I went out and pulled all the new growth up. But when I went out to inspect everything the following Saturday morning, I found more tiny sprouts! Now, for sure there were fewer than there were in the beginning, but no matter how many times Frit or I weeded, there were always more to be found the next weekend.

It reminded me of this time I was struggling with a particular weakness. I’d struggled with it for years and I’d finally tackled it, overcome it, and put it behind me. But soon I noticed another weakness. And once I’d tackled it, another cropped up. I felt frustrated, like all my work and discipline was for nothing, like it almost didn’t matter, like no matter how hard I tried, there would always be something, some bad habit or some unbecoming personality trait standing in the way of who I want to become. Just like the weeds–no matter how many times I weeded, there always seemed to be more a few days later.

But the thing I realized was that it’s okay. Just because there are more weeds on Wednesday, it doesn’t negate all the hard work I did on Monday. Flowers still bloom and gardens still flourish despite (and in spite of) the weeds. The key is to just keep weeding. The only time weeds become a problem is when you stop pulling them.

Life is a process of betterment and change. Everyday we weed out our lives, whether it’s clearing the clutter on our desk, in our hearts, or from our Spirits. And tomorrow there may be more clutter, but that doesn’t change the fact that you cleared it out today. The key is to just keep weeding.

Oh, and remember: The flowers are still blooming. Choose to see them, instead of all the weeds.