I've spent a lot of time inside my own head this weekend, as I spent most of it in the yard doing tedious manual labor by myself. I think that means this is going to be a long post. Settle in.
Last October, I wrote this post about the great day lily move of 2010. After that weekend, I was still angry about having to move the flowers, so I paid no attention to them. It didn't take long for the new bed to become overrun with weeds. I spent most of the winter wondering where I was going to get the strength/motivation to weed that bed. It had gotten completely out of control.
This weekend seemed to be the best to tackle the horrendous job of weeding the bed, laying down landscaper's cloth to prevent future weeds, digging a trench between the bed and the rest of my weed-filled grass and re-mulching the entire bed.
On Saturday I worked on that thing from sun-up to sun-down or in other words, 11 hours. In the days before I began, I was dreading it fiercely, and I prayed that God would change my attitude. I asked that He help me see it as a great opportunity to be in the sun and burn some calories.
I didn't go back to read that first post I wrote until just now as I started to write this one, and it's a little eerie how similar these two posts could be. I was again angry about having to do the chore (just so you know, there are some special drama-filled circumstances surrounding the day lily move, I don't normally get angry about doing yard work.) It was again painful. I again ended my day with a milkshake.
However, when I wasn't being a Negative Nancy, I was grateful for the time in the gorgeous weather (it's hard to stay mad when it's 65 and sunny) and had lots of fun with my dog Bonnie, who loved helping me with the weeding (as I was working I was thinking that I would blog about that and call it "Bonnie's Best Day Ever").
Just as I had a plants-to-weight loss journey extended metaphor in the first blog, here's another. After I first planted the new bed, I neglected it and it didn't take long for the weeds to overtake it. I think something similar could easily happen once I make it to my goal. Making it to my goal is not the end. It's just the beginning. I can never relax and forget about how hard it was to make this far. Otherwise the weeds will take over again.
Wow. The end is so ominous. I want to say something like "Let Go and Let God", but the decision to follow Him and make good choices everyday is just as real a decision as getting up to spend a sunny Saturday weeding. It's kind of fun though. If you check your beds everyday, there are bound to be more and more days with no weeds at all, and there will be much rejoicing!
ReplyDelete~