Gardening: Growing Plants, Cultivating Values

I never was much of a fan of gardening. My earliest memories have always been about my mother bent over her motley crew of pots, plants and soil. She seemed so carefree when she was gardening. I never understood plants. For me, plants were just an instrument for flowers and fruits. After all that's what they taught us in school, didn't they?

I had the opportunity to try my hand at gardening when I developed a sudden interest in bonsai. One thing led to another and before I realized it I was taking care of a total of 10 different varieties of plants and a bonsai tree in the making. I was singing to the plants, feeding them water and sunlight, washing them, changing the soil and doing all the things I had never ever imagined I could do. I was no longer afraid to dip my hands deep in the mud, churn it and settle it again. I was a changed man now. As I sat down to reminisce about my journey with my plants, I realized these tiny plants had influenced my life to a great extent. They had taught me values. They had made me a better man.

1.Patience

The wait for the seeds to sprout would stretch over days and sometimes over a month. Initially, it seemed useless to nurture the seeds and to take elaborate care of the saplings. But the complete elation I experienced when the first sprout crept slowly from the grass was something I had never experienced. I had learned to be patient. I could wait now. And not just for the sprouts to spring, but for everything and with everyone.

2.Hard Work with Dedication

There is no denying the fact that gardening is a tough job. A gardener is like a parent. He works hard to keep his offspring in the best of health and grows up with the best facilities.

One slip in the routine and before you know it the plants will be choking and dying. A plant needs its daily dose of water; it's vitamins from the sun and minerals from the soil. A gardener again is like a nurse, taking care of his patient with utmost dedication.

3.Love

Another unlikely value I developed was love. It was a wonderful feeling to love someone and be loved back. Caressing and loving the plants made them grow stronger and flower faster. My long term relationship with hate and depression was ended in just a couple of weeks by the dumb and expressionless plants. Love cannot just make the world go round; it can also have stupendous effects on your garden.

4.Happiness

Nothing could be more elating than watching your plants grow. Plants have a soothing effect on your senses and before you know it you are at your best relaxed self. A lot of problems we face in our everyday lives can be easily solved just by being happy. Often, incessant worrying clouds happiness and we end up being pulled deeper into the bog of sadness. Plants help you be happy for simple reasons. And you don't have to actually try to be happy. You just have to be yourself and the plants will make sure all your worries are taken care of.

Values may not be the exact word for my learning with my plants, but these small things have actually changed my outlook towards life. Even today, when I see a new flower rising slowly from between the branches, I feel a hundred different emotions screaming from all over my brain, until they blend and form a consolidated emotion in the form of happiness. Just 10 plants have managed to change my mental makeup and make me a better and a happier human being.