After what I think in Devon has been a
pretty lovely Summer, the children are back at school and Autumn is now firmly
upon us. The leaves are changing colour, escaping their branches and everything
is being cut back for Winter in the garden to encourage new growth. This got me
thinking about how maybe we should treat our relationships and the friends
in our lives a bit like nature does.
Romantic relationships should be cared
for like a garden, they need to be nurtured. Relationships need time and effort
so they can continue to blossom and reach their full potential. Plants need to
be loved, looked after and given space to do what they do best, grow. Don’t be
afraid to give your other half, your special person, space to grow, space to be
an individual and reach their full potential. They will thank you for it. This
I think, is something so important in a couples' contentment, although often
very difficult to put into practice in our busy daily lives! With space to
grow, relationship roots will be stronger and the rewards will surely be
plentiful. However, this works both ways and in equal measures, so neither of
you should be forgotten in your quest to grow and be who you want to be!
Trees are in my book, a bit like
friends. We all go through life with different friends joining us on different
parts of our journey. Some stay a long time; some stay until the end. Often
however, we have friends for short periods in our lives, they seem to appear
sometimes for a reason or to get us through something in our life where they
are just in the right place at the right time. Others we just accumulate along
the way and we arrive at a point where they exhaust us and don’t seem to bring
anything nourishing to the friendship any more. Often I think, we can outgrow
our friends. People that were once a positive influence and gave us something
good, have become a drain on our energy and personal resources. Sometimes
friends just appear to have escaped our wave length and not moved forward in
their own personal journey. Their lives have taken a different
direction to our own and we can feel like we no longer have anything in common.
This is ok, it is also ok to step away. It is ok to get rid of some tree
branches to give time and energy for the good blossom to flourish. Be with
those that make you smile and feel good and don’t feel guilty for losing the
ones that don’t. Time is precious! New beginnings are just around the corner...