There is but one Element that constitutes the entirety of all existence in the Manifest Universe, and that Element is Energy. Energy is everything and everything is Energy. Even with a never-ending supply of this omnipresent stuff of Creation to be had, there are those that still somehow manage to dilute it, to weaken its situational efficacy, to squander both opportunity and promise.
Consider a certain aspiring gardener. Our novice wishes to be the warden of a small but thriving garden box of miniature roses He prepares the box with the finest soil appropriate for what it is he wishes to grow and then fixes within its confines several of the most healthy bare root bushes he can find. The box is then set in a place of prominence where the Sun will fall on it in just the right amount. Pure water and plant food are added as needed and then Nature is trusted to work Her magic.
For the first week or two, the incipient roses are tended daily. Any invading weeds are winnowed and, being a forward-thinking and conscientious chap, our gardener lavishes all this attention from a place of Love.
Then something happens. After a few weeks, the daily tending becomes every other day, then every three days. The more Time that passes, the less attention the box of roses receives.
Finally, one day the gardener is taken aback by the sad state his once thriving box of roses has achieved. “Why has this happened?” he asks. “What can I do to remedy this situation?” After careful consideration, he settles on a plan.
Rather than redouble his efforts to nurture the now neglected roses by tending more diligently to this first box, he acquires a new box and populates it with . . . tomato plants.
Again, Time passes. Tomato plants follow roses, then bonsai trees follow tomatoes; and so the proceedings go, box after box, on and on, one after another after another.
And what of those like our gardener? Are they lazy? Hardly! Their inattentiveness cannot be ascribed correctly to laziness; the very fact that so much effort is, Time and Time again, expended in creation of an ever-lengthening chain of enterprise is irrefutable evidence to the contrary. Lethargy is not the culprit; a lack of focus, the absence of diligence, and a dearth of patience is.
So many are like a butterfly flitting from one flower to the next, chasing thoughts or undertakings or dreams, constantly in motion but seldom given to abiding long enough for an agreeable denouement to be experienced. Sometimes, the thought process is “this didn’t work right away so I’ll try something else” or “this sort of worked, but I think I’ll try something else” or “this worked really well but it could have worked even better, so I think I’ll go try something else.” Distraction and boredom are the enemies of focus and follow-through. Knowing when (or if) something should be dispensed with is one thing; effectively aborting a still-viable potential is something else entirely.
To see a thought through takes Time. It takes more Time still for complex things or endeavors to bloom in their fullness and to grow into the totality of their Beauty. It is nothing short of foolish to give something less attention than it requires only to then express subsequent frustration or bewilderment that this something is now found wanting.
Tend your garden. Nurture. Persevere. Acknowledge. Respect. Focus. Repeat. Then plant something new.
©Billy Red Horse