Some days I think: This is impossible.
Other days I look at the same task and think: This is possible, but it’s going to take a lot of work.
I have these thoughts frequently in the garden. But it’s not just the garden. At the moment, there are a lot of things that, on some days, seem impossible. Then on other days, the same things look possible with enough work. The challenges range from calming my own fears and staying positive, to simple housework like breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Dare I say it, sometimes blogging is daunting.
The garden is instructive and keeps me grounded. At the moment, I’m trying to control an outbreak of wild onions. Their roots are very deep, and they spread when disturbed. My past efforts to dig them out have resulted in larger outbreaks.
We have our own well, so any chemicals we use on the yard can leach into the water we drink and bathe in. Spray pesticides are out of the question. What seems to work best to get rid of wild onions is boiling water. Basically, I cook them.
The roots are very deep and the soil is still cold. It takes about half a pot of boiling water to get water hot enough half a foot deep to get them die back. I’ve been hand carrying three to five pots of hot water a day to the garden. One pot covers about six square inches. On days when more come up than I can get under control, I start to think, this is impossible.
But then I get a few more square feet under control. The flower beds start looking clean, without chemicals, without inadvertently spreading the weeds. I start to think: Ok, it’s not impossible. It’s a lot of work, but it’s possible.
It’s the same with with my moods and other tasks. Small wins become a foundation to keep going. An little better is still better. It’s so good to feel positive, have work in order, see the flowers rising in clean beds, to eat dinner. When I make a little progress, I start feeling good about keeping going.
Every day, my first task is attend to my mindset. I say to myself: This is possible. Then I can start in.