Last week, as my wife and I prepared for Easter, we took some time on Saturday to do a little trimming in our garden. We planted our flower garden a few years ago and though we added on last year (disrupting the layout of the garden), we still managed to keep about half of the flowers alive. As 2013 dawned, providing some upkeep for the garden was high on our list of things to-do. So far we have been able to plant a few new flowers, but for now, our focus has been lacking. So, Saturday we took time to do that trimming on our old plants.
We stopped by our favorite local nursery to get a few flowers for Easter, and while there we asked about some of our remaining large plants. We wanted to know what we could do to help them grow more, well, bushy, more “flowery.”
Trim them.
Yep, that was it.
We weren’t fully sure this was the best idea….some of our taller bushes (really small tree like plants) had grown rather tall. The flower garden expert though was resolute. “You need to trim them, and further back than you may wish.” His point was that the taller, the bigger the plant, the more that it will send its life providing nutrients out to the tips, to the flowers on the end. In doing so, the lower branches, where we want more flowers and leaves, will remain barren.
So, to get new growth we needed to cut off the excess branches. Success in life is often like that. We may be having some success in what we are doing, having leafy growth in familiar areas, yet in the process we may be spread too thin. How can we assure that our energy isn’t dissipated, isn’t missing key areas of needed focus?
Doing a little trimming. Perhaps you need to step away from one of your responsibilities, maybe let one volunteer thing go. At work, if you are asked to be on “just one more committee,” be courageous enough to say no. If you are involved in five different things at church, let one drop. This is especially true if you are the leader in some of these groups.
Others will try to dissuade you. They will suggest that the thing can’t hardly make it without you. While that is often wonderful to hear, makes the pride feel good to be needed, such an idea is rarely true. Instead, the organization will certainly find another person to step up, wether into leadership or just as a functioning member of the team.
As we head into the second quarter of the year and spring shines around you, take some time for some trimming. It will do you some good.