seedAs a gardener, one of my most satisfying endeavors is to grow something from seeds.  A favorite “from seed” flower I grow is Morning Glories.  They are simply stunning with their bold flowers, even though the blossoms usually only last a day or two.  Their leaves are lovely, with vines that twist, turn and reach out for an entire summer into first frost, covering fences and trellises and bursting forth with incredible beauty.  With a name like “Heavenly Blues”, it’s no wonder they bless you each sunrise.  What you might not know is that it takes a lot of prep before those seeds even go in the ground.  You have to nick each seed, and then soak them overnight to soften the rock-hard outer shell.  Once planted, you water, and feed, and wait… and wait.  The exciting day comes when you see itsy-bitsy shoots of green rising up out of the ground.  Until one day, you walk out and behold – there is the first bloom, practically smiling and you and saying hello!

Today I want you to think about the goals you have in life.  Perhaps they are unrealized dreams, or a heart cry that was put on a shelf and is collecting dust, or something you wanted/meant to accomplish that just got “lost in the sauce”.  It can be in any area – health, education, career, personal achievement, hobby, travel… there’s no limit.  For example, I recently accomplished one of my life’s goals last December, by graduating from college.  And you know what?  That took me 38 (yes… three… eight…) years to come to fruition.  Okay, so I’m a slow learner!!!  Truly, it was a long and bumpy road with many detours and unexpected delays.  But can I tell you how sweet and satisfying it was to say out loud, “I’m a graduate”?  I get choked up just writing this.

Now… take a deep breath…and begin!  Identify one goal that you want to achieve – maybe it’s losing 10 pounds, running a 5K, taking a course, going on a trip, moving to your dream location, getting a new car, taking dance/acting/singing lessons, learning to play an instrument, starting a blog or business… listen to your heart, because right now it’s whispering that goal to you.  Hear that?  Yep, that’s your future calling.  Now… imagine you have achieved that goal.  You are there, baby.  Now turn back and look at the path from there back to today.  How did you do it?  What seeds did you plant along the way? 

One of my clients had a dream of getting a brand spankin’ new fancy-schmancy sports car, but figured she could never afford it.  So how did she begin?  We made a jar up with a big picture of her dream car taped to it.  Each day she emptied her purse/pockets and put that change in that jar.  Now before you scoff/laugh thinking that’s just a raindrop in the ocean, think about it.  Each day she was taking positive, intentional action/steps in the direction of that dream.  As her meager change turned into dollars, she got jazzed and started dropping bills in that jar.  Next, she went online and designed to spec every detail she wanted on that car and printed it out.  She started cutting corners on things like a daily designer coffee habit and began putting that cash into her mounting savings (which, as a side note, added up to over $1,000 a year).  It took a while, but guess what, friends?  Today she is proudly driving that car of her dreams, and loving every minute of it!!!  How cool is that?

Again, go back to that dream achievement place, and work backwards.  WHAT ONE BABY STEP CAN YOU MAKE TODAY IN THE DIRECTION OF THAT DREAM?

The time is now.  The place is today.  Start sowing the seeds that will grow your lifetime legacy garden.  Blessings!