You Plant Seeds Everywhere You Go

by Jody Johnston Pawel, LSW, CFLE

Everywhere you go, everything you do, each person you encounter, you touch --- somehow --- and leave part of yourself with them. These are the seeds you sow on a daily basis. If you are a parent, you are obviously planting and growing seeds with and through your children. If you have a partner or long-term committed relationship, you are constantly influencing each other.

What kind of “garden” is your workplace? How healthy is that soil? What kind of seeds or nutrients do you contribute to that environment? Your friends and chosen community are by your choice, so they often are the richest gardens you grow, but you aren’t able to be with them as much as your family, so they often serve as nutrients for your soil. Your family has certainly planted seeds in you, some are visible and some not so much, but the fruit you bear often bears witness to your formative years. You also sow seeds in your internal garden, even when you aren’t around others, with your thoughts, emotions, and actions you take to care for your body (or not).

So just how intentional are you about your seed sowing? What seeds are you planting? What seeds to you want to plant? Are you being intentional about nurturing the seeds you’ve sown?

Do you discuss self-growth or mutual growth goals with your children, partners, family and friends? When you find yourself in a toxic environment or around noxious people how do you respond? Are you still somehow able to intentionally sow seeds of love, joy, hope, and faith? It can be a struggle, especially if you are exposed on a daily basis. This is why tending to your own garden is so important. When you see “weeds” in your internal garden, maybe from a dysfunctional family or past trauma, do you just try to throw dirt over it? Yank it out fast but leave some roots that can regrow and continue to choke out healthy vegetation? Or do you take the time to dig in deep, get to the root, and dissolve it?

When you sow seeds of faith, hope and love in your garden of life, you grow, blossom, you bear fruit that creates new seeds you can sow. Then you become a lifeforce in your world, making it more beautiful and helping feed those around you with healthy, life-giving, love-enhancing nutrients.

About the Author: Jody Johnston Pawel, LSW, CFLE is the award-winning author of The Parent’s Toolshop® and CEO of Relationship Toolshop® International Training Institute, LLC. She has 30 years’ experience training over 50,000 parents and family professionals worldwide. She’s a top-rated speaker and parenting expert to the media worldwide, including serving as the Co-Producer and Parenting Expert for the Emmynominated Ident-a-Kid television series.

If you want to improve your relationships with children or adults, attend Jody’s local, live classes. See the Events section for the Parents Toolshop® T.I.P.S. course (Tools for Improving Parenting Success) or The 6 Keys to Creating Heartful Relationships.

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