It’s about starting over . com

To say  it’s different here (in Israel) is the understatement of the year! It’s a place of many enigmas, but what I have in mind right now is the winter.

People who live in Israel are fond of saying that both autumn and spring last anywhere from a few hours to a day or two. True, there isn’t much that’s transitional about life in Israel–it’s usually either all black or all white.

Winter though, this is really something. While the majority of the world–including people, plants and animals–is more or less taking cover, hibernating until spring dawns, winter in Israel is more of an awakening. It generally begins with us giving thanks for the end of the summer heat. We then move on to prayers for rain. Once the rains do start, the earth seems to stretch, yawn and new life sprouts up everywhere. Dry roadsides, fields and forests, some black with soot from summer fires, turn green and eventually blossom.

My yard, which I like to say is organic (translation: neglected) is almost barren by the end of summer. But here we are in the heart of winter and after some rainy days, my yard is now completely covered in several shades of green. The whole thing seems cushioned with clover, some flowers are beginning to bloom, and I can’t help but notice the total renewal of life. Yes, weeds are beginning to flourish, but I pull them easily and add them to my compost pile where they’ll decay until they can nourish the herbs I’ll plant from time to time.

What are weeds anyway?

As defined in one of my books on organic gardening, weeds are simply plants that are growing in the wrong place (i.e., where we neither want nor need them). They tend to use the nutrients that should go to the plants that we want to thrive, choking and sometimes even completely sucking the life from them. If we let the weeds remain, our plants won’t do well because they won’t get what they need.

Yes, as you may have guessed by now, all this is an analogy for our selves. In the winter of our lives, we can renew ourselves and start again. Pulling weeds is essential to starting over–they only suck the life from us and prevent us from blossoming, from following our hearts and becoming the people we really want to be. But we should remember that the weeds of today are food for tomorrow.

What is your winter?

A personal winter can be age, grief, illness, addiction, a rut–i.e., any time, situation or mood that is unhappy or limiting.

What are your personal weeds?

Before you can uproot and compost your personal weeds, you’ll need to identify them. So what are they? Here are some possibilities:

• Anger
• Resentment
• Blame
• Desire for revenge
• Fear
• Rumination
• Lack of self confidence
• Inabiility to forgive
• Lack of self worth
• Hatred
• The dreaded words, “can’t,” “coulda” and “shoulda” 

When someone we love is ill (including ourselves) or has died, a lot of the above are an integral part of our grief. I’m a great advocate of allowing ourselves to experience our emotions–if we don’t, they tend to hide in waiting and serve as a crutch to our self-limiting behavior. They also tend to pop up and bite us in the rear when we least expect it. But In the name of starting over, identify, uproot and compost your weeds. At the very least, you’ll feel better. At most, well, who knows? Wouldn’t it be great to find out?

Recommendation

Getting started starting over?

A great book to start with is You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay
 

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