So, as it is already just past mid-December, I realize that I’m a bit late to the game for planting…
This was, however, the first year I managed to think of how I always wish I had Hyacinths and Tulips growing in my flower beds in the spring, before the spring — I actually remembered in the fall, when bulbs are actually on sale in the stores! (Typically, I head to the stores in the early spring when I see other homes starting to have their flowers come up and bloom, only to find that my only option is to buy already potted plants.)
I also finally had the confidence that this was a purchase worth making, since it’s been a pretty consistent regret I face each spring, such that I actually took the time to decide upon (so many colors to choose from!) and pick up a couple bags of bulbs.
I even managed to talk to a friend from my home group who is an avid gardener about my bulbs for some advice, such that I had instructions for what I needed to pick up (bone meal) to plant with the bulbs. (Also in the photo are 2 garlic bulbs, which he assured me should be easy enough to grow…but should’ve been planted November 1st.)
I had not yet, however, managed to make the time to get around to buying the bone meal and actually going outside to plant the bulbs.
This past Monday (just prior to this month’s mid-point), fortunately for me, felt a lot more like a fall day than winter. And rather than being distracted by so many other things that are always going on, I realized that it might be one of those “now or never” chances…
I wondered though, is it too late? Would this extra effort be wasted? Should I just cut my losses on the bulbs and forego making a trip out to buy bone meal? Do I really want my first attempt at planting the bulbs have its chances of succeeding stacked against ideal odds?
But the thought of those bags of bulbs just going to waste, with 0% chance of blooming, haunted me…and I decided that not trying, now that an opportunity was clearly before me to go ahead and take it, however grim or non-ideal the opportunity may seem timing-wise, would be a greater regret than trying even if this attempt may fail.
If I plant, then there’s a chance…if I don’t plant, then there’s zero chance.
At the end of the day, even if I had planted at exactly the most ideal time, there still was no 100% guarantee. So while I might have had a better chance, it’s still a chance that is not ever 100% in my control anyhow.
Is this not how so much of what we do in life is like anyhow?
If we don’t try, then there’s no risk of failure, but there’s also 0% chance of success and getting what we want.
If we do try, then we may get what we’re after, and if we don’t, then we’ve at least learned or started gaining experience in going after something which we can always choose to attempt again–older and wiser (i.e. next year, if the flowers don’t come up, I’ll have extra motivation to prioritize planting a new bag of bulbs earlier!), or we can tweak our plans (hire a gardener to take care of this task) or pursue something different altogether (try annuals in the spring?).
All of this brought to my mind Ecclesiastes 11:1-6, especially v.4 (boldfaced):
Cast your bread upon the waters,
for after many days you will find it again.
Give portions to seven, yes to eight,
for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain upon the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there will it lie.
Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
I will not know until the Spring whether or not there will be any flowers, but I feel as though this act of planting is good for my soul–deciding my “desire for flowers” is worth investing in, and not letting “fear of failure” be a reason for hindering action (however much it may have been a culprit in causing delay/procrastination)–even if it doesn’t end up benefiting my landscape.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks