We Must Reap What We Sow

Silly me!

I nearly missed out on hundreds of sweet, succulent, scrumptious cherry tomatoes because I wasn’t paying attention and almost forgot to reap what I had sown.?

As so many of us do, I began the project with great enthusiasm and dedication, only to get side-tracked when something more pressing came along.?

A couple of days ago, after weeks of relentless rain alternated with sizzling sunshine, I wandered past the tomato plants and couldn’t believe how many little red balls were waiting to be picked. Literally hundreds of perfect little tomatoes in varying stages of ripeness – some of them already overripe. In another few days all of those tomatoes would have been spoiled and inedible and I would have wasted not just my earlier time and attention, but all of the fruits of my labour.

Luckily, I remembered them in time, and we are enjoying the crop enormously.

But it got me thinking about what other projects I have put time and energy into and then, while waiting for them to bear fruit, become distracted and moved onto something else – often wasting those fruits when they arrived.?

Like drinking celery juice every morning (for 3 days – it’s pretty disgusting) but stopping before my skin started to glow. Or pausing the rebounding (which I loved) when I had an issue with my feet but never restarting it. Or the novel I have an outline for but haven’t yet begun to write. And many more schemes – some hare-brained and some solid.?

It’s quite easy and obviously sensible for me to let go of the more hare-brained ones (I’m never going to develop a taste for celery juice, nor am I likely to write the next Jane Eyre), but there is merit in pursuing projects that have substance.

Which is why I am taking the next few months to build on the work I have been doing for years and write my next book (working title: Making Work Work For You). When I take a break from my writing, I will be working out my tension by jumping on my rebounding trampoline. And I will be harvesting my tomatoes every day – knowing that the more I tomatoes I pick, the more the bushes will produce.?

• What have you sown that still needs to be reaped??
• Think about the projects you were dreaming up and starting to work on; are any of them in limbo??
• Are any of them ready to be harvested, or do they need a little more nurturing before you can get their full benefit?

I wish you a month of remembering, revisiting and realising meaningful and rewarding projects that you may have temporarily put on hold.??

And I’d love to hear about them!

#reapwhatyousow #harvestyourcrop #payattention