I’m sure we’re familiar with the saying “The grass looks greener on the other side. It’s only human to cast a glance at your neighbour’s well-manicured lawn, almost wishing yours could magically look as green or as lush. Many times, you catch yourself wishing that you had a job as glamorous as Amaka’s, children as well behaved as Jumoke’s, a bank account as fat as Aisha’s or a husband as doting as Stephanie’s.
What we fail to realise is that well-manicured lawns don’t just happen. If a piece of land is left untended, the natural result will be weeds, nettles and thistles. For anything productive to come out from the ground, there has to be some investment made. You’d have to invest time, money and resources. As a farmer, you’d buy fertilizers, manure and carefully watch out for weevils and other bugs that want to destroy what you’re labouring for. It’s the same thing for any part of your life you’re tending to.
Social media often doesn’t show us the real story neither do we get to see the struggles behind the scenes. For a farmer, there would be times of tilling, digging into the hard ground. For the entrepreneur, there would be sleepless nights, wondering where the next client will come from and how to bring their vision to reality. For the spouse, there would be time spent in understanding the person you’re married to and improving on communication and conflict resolution styles. All this hard work takes time! At the end of the day, when the hard work pays off, outsiders stand admiring the wonderful results but they have no idea what has gone in to make the successful picture that they see.
If you would only put in the time and the hard work, your garden could be just as lush and as attractive. So, this week, make an effort to tend your own garden. The results will not appear overnight. It will cost you sweat and tears, you may have a lot of weeds to pull out, a lot of pruning to do and a perhaps a great deal of watering. But I can assure you that if you do the work required, you’ll have people come look at the beauty that has emerged from your garden.
Take a look at your relationships, business, self-esteem, physical appearance and all the many aspects of your life that you don’t like but admire in others. Resolve to put in the work that will transform that dry patch of land into a blooming field!
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