I see a lot of parallels between gardening and weight loss. When you first start out you only see the end result in your imagination…
A hot body.
A beautiful garden.
Then when it starts to get down to the nitty gritty and you actually have to work at it you decide that the whole process just sucks. You question whether or not all of the effort you’ve put in is going to actually yield any results and you wonder whether it’s worth it or not.
Then something beautiful happens and unexpectedly you are rewarded for your tenacity. It could be something simple like a budding flower or squeezing into a pair of pants. Suddenly, you’re ready to stick to it for the long haul because you’ve gotten the renewed faith that you can do it!
I had a moment like that as I was watering my garden this morning. Upon inspection I found something quite spectacular…
My dinner plate dahlias are blooming even though they got eaten by an extremely hungry bug, then burned by an insecticide… then eaten some more. Every time I step foot into my garden I wonder if all gardeners curse like pirates while they tend to their garden… or was that just me? Things kept going wrong and it was really pissing me off! (See?) It didn’t look like these flowers even had a chance but lo and behold most of them are trying to bloom!
At that moment I stopped to look past all of my dead grass and half eaten basil to see the progress I’ve actually made…
I’m not doing half as bad as I thought I was! The same can be said for my weight loss as well. The key is to focus on your success not your failure. It’s all about perspective right?
I think I had a sunnier disposition today than had in weeks because somebody finally made it home from his wildland fire deployment…
I can’t even begin to tell you how much we missed this guy!
He came home with some amazing pictures and a scruffy beard. I didn’t know just how stressed out I was about it until he got home. As he walked through that door it felt like I could finally exhale for the first time since he had left. I was able to relax for the first time in weeks!
Everything was finally back to normal now and I couldn’t be happier about it 🙂
All of you military wives out there I give you mega props because you make me look like the wimpiest woman on the planet!
P.S. Here is a link to thirty five pest and disease remedies for your garden.
Nina in the Now 
Love the pic of Brent and the girls! So glad he is home!
So glad your husband is home!!! And, you are in no way a wimp – no matter why your spouse has to be gone it is hard and stressful (every time!!).
You have done an amazing job with both your body and your garden. Glad your hubby is home to see all the effort you have put in.
I’m so glad your husband’s ok! Firefighters are incredibly brave. And you’re right. Sometimes you focus on the things that need work so much that you can’t see the things you’ve gained. Sometimes stopping and smelling the roses is not just a figure of speech!