The Effect of Long Neglect

Yesterday I purchased some flowers to plant in the flower garden that is beside my back deck. This originally beautiful flower garden has become the garden where there is some pretty overgrown ground cover that blooms in Spring, and some ground cover that looks like it has been trampled.  The other flowers I've planted have died from neglect.  I didn't take the time and effort to make sure they were cared for properly.

Today I went to prepare the garden for the new flowers.  I pulled weeds, and more weeds. I had to get a big shovel to get some of the weeds out, and even remove some of the border bricks to get to the roots.  As I worked I got grumpier and grumpier.  I still haven't planted the flowers.  Maybe when it cools down in the evening I will.

It did dawn on me that, as is often the case, gardens are a good analogy for life.  The longer we neglect the good things we have -- good talents, good habits, etc. - the more those good things get covered with weeds, until maybe they die from neglect.  These things can be recovered, but it will take a lot more work than if we had just kept up with them in the first place!

Old Knots and Bad Habits

The blinds.  Looking new again.

Today Kayli and I were fixing some broken blinds.  In order to do that, we needed to untie some knots that have been in the bottom of the blinds for over 20 years.  Those knots are what carries the weight of the blinds when they are lifted up and down.  Those knots were really, really hard to untie.  We were able to do it, but it was difficult.  Once they were untied, we could replace broken slats with new ones.

I got to thinking that those knots are like bad habits that we have allowed to stay for a really long time.  Bad choices that we have consistently made through the ups and downs of life.  The longer we have those bad habits, the harder they are to get rid of.  Not impossible, but really, really hard. 

Kayli and I tried to be patient.  We sometimes got frustrated.  But we persisted and the broken pieces of blind were removed, and replaced with unbroken slats.  Now the blinds look new, and work better.  We really can undo our bad habits.  It will take patience.  We may get frustrated.  But if we persist, that bad habit will be replaced with a good one.  The choices we make will be better.  Getting rid of a bad habit and replacing it with something good is like getting to be new again.  Unbroken.