Whatever Your Lot in Life, Plant a Garden

We cannot always choose our setting, situation or circumstance. Our plans and ideas don't always go the way we had hoped.  The only thing we can choose is our response.

Life has a strange way of suddenly careening out of control, and putting us in the ditch. One thing I know about the ditch - nobody ever intends to go there. It just happens. (A variation of a popular bumper sticker: "Stuff Happens")

"Bad Luck" often brings with it a sense of despair and pessimism. When problems pile high, we lose our hope, and find ourselves singing the children's jump-rope rhyme: "Same song, second verse. It ought to get better, but it's gonna get worse."

Whatever happens -- you can make the worst of it, or you can make the best of it. The choice is yours. Wherever you are in life, you can just sit there and complain, or you can start planting a garden.

If you plant, you won't see results right away. Tiny seeds need time to grow - but they will sprout, flourish and bear fruit if you keep faith alive.

Perhaps your dreams have been shattered. Maybe life has been one big disappointment for you - not at all like you had thought it was going to be.

Maybe you are facing financial pressure, poor health, relational difficulties, disappointments, failure in business, inadequacy and loss.

Here's a question to ponder. Will the situation get better by feeling bad about it? Will anything improve if you operate out of self pity? I don't think so. Anxieties, like babies, grow larger by nursing!

The only way things will get better is if you take positive action. Inaction means no change. The first thing to change is your mental attitude. Focus on what you have left, rather than what you have lost. Think about your blessings instead of your troubles. Spend your energy on what can be done rather than what can't. Reflect on the good instead of the bad.

Whatever your lot in life - plant a garden!