Harvest Time – Are You Reaping What You Sowed?

 

 

This week we experienced the autumnal equinox and fall has begun. This is the harvest season. In Canada, where I live, we give thanks for our bounty on Oct. 9th with the Thanksgiving holiday. The United States, our neighbours to the south give their thanks later in November.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a time to take stock of what we are grateful for. Generations in the past would also take stock of the crops they reaped from the seeds sown in early spring. Did all their hard work pay off? Would there be enough food to sustain them through winter?

Autumn is also a great time to take stock of what you have accomplish with your own personal goals so far this year.

Think back to January, did you make any new year resolutions? Do you even still remember what they were? Was this the year to finally lose that weight or were you going to start a business or write a book?

Now don’t get all guilt ridden on me, if you are no farther along now then when you made that resolution almost 10 months ago, you are not the only one. We all started out with good intentions but now, when it is time to harvest or at least assess the progress made, we may find that our crop of goals and dreams have come up short.

Perhaps its not that the goals where too big when you made those resolutions but rather the time you planted those good intentions was all wrong.

Every seed planted has to be nurtured along with regular water, a good soil base and plenty of sunshine in order for it to grow strong enough to bare fruit. A goal or even a dream for that matter is no different. If it is not consistently supported with a good plan, plenty of passion and regular energy in the form of hard work it will whither and die like a dried up seed exposed to the wind.

But here is a little secret about nature that most overlook. Nature does not plant her seeds in the spring. She releases them in the fall where they can burrow down into the ground and not only hibernate during the cold harsh winter season but slowly incubate by absorbing the surrounding moisture and minerals from the earth so that when the sun does finally return in the new year they are ready to burst forth stronger than ever.

Mother earth’s cycles are eternal. Every season is a vital component for the circle of life. If you find that your personal harvest, what you wanted to accomplish this year or where you where hoping to be in life, is not what you imagined then now is the time to plant your personal seeds of hope and inspiration. Dig them deep into your fertile imagination where they can incubate and gather strength.

Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds.

Henry Wordsworth

 

The fall is the best time to take stock of what you have, what you want and what you will need going forward. When you gain that clarity you will be better prepared to do the deep thinking and planning needed in the dark season of winter so that when you state your intentions in the form of a new year resolution it will have all the nourishment it needs to burst forth with enough of the fuel of passion to sustain the energy it will need for the hard work every worthwhile goal requires.

So follow mother natures cues and invest in your next year’s goals by planting the seeds now that will be needed to create a bumper crop of success. Take some time this fall to write your intentions down then do a little research by gathering up the information that you will need so you can have everything in place to burst forth in the new year with a good plan and plenty of excitement to fuel you as you work towards your objectives.

Then next year when harvest time comes around again you can reap the bounty of the seeds of hope and inspiration that were sown in the autumn before.

 

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