Today I Was Coached By My Garden

I learn a lot from gardening. Mostly because I don’t really know what I’m doing so it’s hard not to learn something. But today I was simply tackling a firethorn hedge that needed a haircut.
(For those of you who’ve never met a firethorn, their big spikes somehow hide behind innocent little leaves so you never know they are there until they getcha. And once they getcha, the scrapes burn and itch like… no surprise! … fire. )
 
With the first accidental jab it occurred to me: there’s no way to play it safe with this job. Playing it safe would mean not doing it at all.
 
It was kind of a relief to admit that, really, because while I was still mindful of those honking big sharp thorns, it meant that I funnelled more of my energies into getting the work done.
 
 The job wasn’t to avoid getting poked. The job was to clear a path so visitors (yay, visitors again!) could make it to our front door unscathed.  Accepting that there was no playing it safe freed up my mind enough to come up with this little post while I was getting the job done!  
 
Most of us have done a LOT of playing it safe lately, for critical reasons. But sometimes playing it safe becomes an automated way to move through life.
 
 I, for one, am ready to start thinking about where and how I’ve been playing it TOO safe in other areas of my life.  After all, most of my life’s most excellent adventures came from taking even just a small step outside my comfort zone.  What whispers of my heart have I pushed down because of covid restrictions, or because they might take me into unknown territory? What has gone unsaid, out of shyness or fear of the consequences? 
 
Absolutely, there is a time and place for playing it safe. But I can’t imagine spending any more time in a self-imposed lockdown of sorts. Time to review and modify my internal safety protocols, and give those firethorn hedges in my mind a haircut too. 

Wonder what adventures await, and who might come to visit?!