Your Spiritual Growth Center

By Dr Nikki Judge

With the knowledge that the “right” garden is the one that is right for you, now it is time to return to the gardener and their work at planting.  While many of us hobby gardeners indulge in Darwinian Gardening (getting the soil ready and then throwing the seeds in and letting nature figure it out) the gardener who is looking for a rich and bountiful garden knows that planting plants at the proper time and in the right place are paramount to success.  Plus planting requires a whole different set of tools than have been used up to now while we were in the planning and preparing stages of gardening.

Timing 

The good gardener knows the proper time for planting the different types of plants in the garden.  Some are timed to grow in the cool of spring and maybe again in the fall (beets), some need the heat of the full summer sun to bring forth the vegetables to grace the summer table.  We also have to look at timing in our Spiritual Garden of the Soul. In our Spiritual Garden are we making sure that we capitalize on our precious moments?  Are we making sure that we are aware of the importance of time to others?  Are you utilizing the opportunities to be able to see the appropriate times for you to act?

Location 

Much energy and forethought are given to the location the gardener selects for each type of plant in the garden.  Peas are placed where they receive the early morning light (brain storming and new thought processes), corn takes center stage to get all the sun possible and the same with tomatoes (emotions and passions).  Onions do better in well drained soil on the high side of the garden while the leafy greens are always placed where they will receive the best water and full sun (romance and love).  We also need to choose the proper location for the components of our Spiritual Garden of the Soul.  The ability to be able to choose the proper location for the components of the garden gives us the ability to decide whom and how close we allow others in our lives.

(c) David Lally

Using the Right Tools

The right tool for the right job can make all the difference in the world.  While a shovel is a great tool for moving dirt, it’s not nearly as good as a pitchfork when it comes to pitching hay.  From a planting dibble to the farm tractor, having the right tool for the job is an important part of the gardener’s success.  We too need the right tools in our Spiritual Garden of the Soul.  We need to make sure that we are equipped with the proper tools to be able to create a bountiful harvest for ourselves in our Inner Gardens.

 Whatever those tools may be:  friends, education, intuition, foreshadowing, a place for personal introspection and reflection, processes to deal with difficult situations or actions, these are all tools for our garden.  What tools do you need to make YOUR Spiritual Garden of the Soul the perfect place for you?  You can build tools like a support system (friends or family to help you when you’re down), coping mechanisms (ways to deal with the things that are difficult for you to deal with) and more.

Just as the gardener uses the right tools for each of the jobs in the garden to create a place of beauty and bounty you can build a great toolbox of tools to help you create a life that is filled with joy, happiness and laughter!

Next week we’ll begin the part that most of us need the most help with – nurturing YOUR Spiritual Garden of the Soul.

The right garden is the one that is right for YOU!

The gardener now takes the time survey their garden.  The garden has been properly planned and the soil is ready to receive the seeds that will soon be sprouting with bright green hope for a future harvest.  The gardener now goes back to the earlier planning of deciding what to plant and finalizes mapping out what is going to be planted where.  Each plant has a preference for full sun, partial, full shade, etc. and these genetic prerequisites dictate where the plants should go in the garden for the greatest success.  But the gardener – having chosen the plants for the garden – is planting the garden that is right for them.

Choices

In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul it is time for you to begin making the choices that are right for you!  As the gardener gets to choose their favorite veggies to plant, the spiritual gardener knows that we get to make choices that are right for us.  Now this doesn’t mean we get to dispense with reality – as the gardener is constrained by the genetics of the seed so are we constrained by the reality of the physical world.

Imagine YOUR Spiritual Garden of the Soul.  Do you prefer a formal garden like those around castles or is your garden more free form?  Is it filled with roses (family)?  Herbs (friends)?  Veggies (good health)?  A mix?  What pleases you?  What makes you comfortable (financial security/emotional security)?  Do you prefer a rigid straight row structure or do you come close and call it good (where you don’t have to make many major choices/you feel confident making choices)?  You can make it anything you want to be – it is YOUR garden!

 Appreciate & Accept

In our Spiritual Garden of the Soul we want to plant it with those things that will bring us joy, challenge us, teach us, and allow us to experience the life we are living in a positive and uplifting way.  In order to do that we have to be able to appreciate and accept that not everything is sunshine (happiness) and lollipops (good times); we each have our own rain (problems).  Part of the purpose of the Spiritual Garden of the Soul is to help develop and grow a happy and fruitful life for ourselves…if we don’t do it just who is going to?

Decisions

Once the gardener has reviewed their garden plot, checked their earlier goals and selections, they are now ready to make the final decisions as to exactly what their garden is going to be.  We have to make decisions about our Spiritual Garden of the Soul as well.  We have to look at the choices we have found available for us and decide what we want to grow in our Spiritual Garden of the Soul.  Remember…what you plant in your Spiritual Garden of the Soul is going to have a direct impact on your life so it is worth the effort to take the time to review choices and make decisions that make YOUR Spiritual Garden of the Soul the right garden because it is truly the one that is right for YOU!

Next week we will look at the second piece of our Planting phase – Timing, Location and Using the Right Tools.

This class is online, offered through the Oranum website and involves self-study & discussions in FREE CHAT.  I will be posting comments there & giving exercises for you to participate in the class.  Be sure to check in frequently!  Please review the articles posted and then come to FREE CHAT to discuss & ask questions.  If you have additional links or connects, please post in the Oranum.com Class Page! THANKS!