Pull Out The Weeds And Let The Good Seed Grow

Now that the cold season is over in the Southern part of the world where I live I have been working in my garden, pulling out weeds and old plants; and putting new seed into the ground.

 I have been working in my garden; pulling out weeds and old plants; and putting new seed into the ground.

Observations of what is happening in the garden alerted me to two things that I felt are very important life lessons. In every garden or farm there is always competition going on between the good seed that you really want and the weeds. Somehow the weeds seem to have an upper hand over the good seed and they grow very quickly and many a times if left unchecked they almost always crowd out and choke the good seed. It seems the weeds are native to the patch of soil without any effort from me they just flourish whereas the good seed actually requires me to firstly clear the ground, hoe it, add manure, put them into the ground, water and tend them to maturity.

Allow me a little digression. Over the past three years I have had interesting experiences with one weed-cum-vegetable. In Shona Culture, like many other Bantu Cultures, the tender leaves of the blackjack plant are consumed as a delicacy in the rainy season. Being anaemic I am particularly fond of this weed-cum-vegetable because it is my opinion it is a natural iron supplement and when I moved to my current place of residence the blackjack plant was all over the yard and the garden. Being the man that I am I always allowed it an element of free reign certain sections of my garden so that I could enjoy it. The results were always catastrophic for the other vegetables that would be growing in the same section with the blackjack. Anyone with a little farming experience would tell you that weeds and "plants" compete for nutrients, water, and sunlight and if left unchecked the weeds have an upper hand in the competition.

I would liken weeds and the good plants to failure and success in that order. When you consider any area life from relationships, academia, business or careers we also have our weeds and good plants. Just like the weeds in my garden the weeds in these areas of life seem native to us and don't require much effort to flourish. Think of how easily we lie and cheat on our spouses. Think of how easily we break our promises to our children. Think of how we almost always neglect studying until the very last minute before the exam. Think of the many businesses that aborted before they even started.

Failure is so native in and to us and no wonder it is all over : failed marriages, failed businesses, failed and failing students, and recently Africa and other parts of the world have started producing failed states. Just like the weeds in my garden it does not require effort it rolls out on its own. The good plants of success on the other hand like the good plants in my garden require deliberate and conscious effort if we are to enjoy their fruits. The ground has to be cleared, hoed, manured, good seed planted and tended to maturity. And as you consciously grow the good seed of success you have to consciously uproot the weeds of failure because the two can not exist side by side. One of the reasons we fail in life is simply because we do nothing and the weeds just grow. As a teacher, and a lay leader in church I have met a lot of people whose sole problem was inactivity or what I would like to call an, " I am going to do nothing about my situation syndrome " or worse still an " I know what's wrong but I am not going to do anything about it attitude ". With this attitude the weeds will definitely flourish and failure becomes commonplace.

As I conclude let me provide justification for my earlier digression on the blackjack plant. Life also gives us our blackjack plants and these are usually weeds which can be enjoyed as vegetables but in the greater scheme of things are damaging to the rest of the good crop in your garden. Our blackjack plants differ and it is your duty to identify yours. At a personal level I generally love reading, and for that matter I read on almost any subject that comes my way. I remember in my first two years as teacher I reached a stage where I could miss work because I was engrossed in one form of reading or another. Just like the blackjack in my garden this delicacy called reading for the love of reading was crowding out the good plants in my teaching garden. For another it may be the blackjack of flirtatious conduct at the office which may end up crowding out a happy marriage or the blackjack of uncontrolled use of social media which my end up crowding out your relation.

For another it may be the blackjack of flirtatious conduct at the office which may end up crowding out a happy marriage or the blackjack of uncontrolled use of social media which my end up crowding out your relationships or academic work.

Written By Tendayi I Mawango for Arthur Mutambara

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