Life is . . .

Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it.

It's not officially Spring but it sure does feel like it.

Here in Houston, we have been enjoying some absolutely awesome weather conditions. All the trees are beginning to bud, the lawns are greening up, spring is definitely in the air. Many of you know, I have just moved, again. This house has the greatest layout, but it lacked that homey charm. Many hours of love have been poured into this house to make it a home. My family has been a great support and help in making this place my own.

With the inside of the house completed and the wonderful weather, my focus moved to the outside of the house. I decided a flower bed was in order, to span the entire front of the house and I had a blank pallet. There is a great boxwood hedge on one end of the house and the rest was a sea of weeds. As I sat and pulled weeds my mind wandered. I thought about life in general, my life, certain life events, when I realized . . . Life is like a flower bed. Now where did that come from. I've heard a lot of "life is . . ." sayings, but I've never heard that it's like a flower bed. As I pulled the weeds, I uncovered some really rich soil. It was a nice mixture of compost and deep, dark soil, loaded with earth worms. No wonder those weeds were thriving. Some of the weeds had really deep roots, some had the kind that were shallow, but covered a lot of territory. I compared the roots to issues, problems, illnesses, and troubles in life as I plucked each one from the flower bed. As I cleaned the flower bed, I realized that I was also cleaning out the cob-webs of my life. How refreshing, but why was I playing a game in my mind while doing something that most people, including me, hate to do. I thought back to my childhood and spring time with my grandmother. She loved working in the yard. Pulling weeds was one of the best times ever. She made a game of it and we just loved pulling weeds with Ginny. Maybe that's where this game came from, I don't really know. Then, I started envisioning the completed flower bed. I started thinking about what plants to use and remembered that Granny loved Gardenias. My mother loves roses and Ginny just loved flowers. That was it. My flower bed would be a tribute to my life and the most important women in my life.

So there you have it, Life is like a flower bed. I know weeds will continue to pop up along the way, but as soon as they are evident, I can just pluck them out. My flowers are all planted in that fabulous soil. They've been feed and watered. Now comes one of my greatest challenges, patience. Waiting on the flowers to grow and fill in. I'm working on my patience, but that doesn't stop me from walking around my garden saying "grow, grow, grow".