planting a seed

I can remember as a little girl watching my mom work in the garden...wondering why she spent so much time digging in the dirt for such little return. Or at least that's what I thought.

As a kid you really can't appreciate a beautiful garden. To a kid, flowers are flowers and according to kids they just grow when the weather warms up and the sun comes out. If only it were that easy. As an adult I can appreciate the blood (yes, there was blood), sweat (lots and lots of it), and tears (occasionally) that go into creating a beautiful garden. I would also venture to say that this garden, so to speak, can be applied to almost everything in life.

Throughout the course of this journey called life I have planted my share of seeds. Not only personally, but also as an entrepreneur. Several of these seeds have grown and flourished into amazing blooms. By blooms I mean relationships, partnerships, and friendships.

One of the most important lessons my mother taught me was the value of nurturing those seeds, tending to them, watering them, and sometimes even the occasional re-planting. By watching her I also learned to never give up on them. No matter what a seed have might looked like, the potential for growth was always there. She labored and pruned, sodded, watered, fertilized...the whole nine yards.

When I reflect on these so-called "blooms" in my life I realize there's a common thread, regardless of what the relationship may be. Whether it's a friend, a colleague, or a client, I am committed to making the most of each seed- and I never, ever give up on them. The result? A beautiful garden.