Word of the Day: Harvest

by | Aug 23, 2014 | Uncategorized

Harvest: (n) The quantity of an animal or vegetable product gathered at the end of it’s season. (vb) to Catch or collect a crop or natural resources for human use.

My tomatoes are coming on. The taste of that first tomato sandwich is like summer distilled for me. Nom. Though fall is the typical time for this type for harvesting, the type of harvest that comes from the old adage, you reap what you sow, can come at any time. I used to hate that saying because it was almost always used negatively,like a substitute for I told you so when some sort of catastrophe struck. But I’ve learned that the natural cause and effect of you reap what you sow can be positive, as well, and it’s a never ending cycle of reaping, sowing, harvesting. It’s like that movie Signs–each act or happening had consequences later. You may not be able to see them, but they are there. Right now, I am harvesting the benefits of running. My lungs are crystal clear, my cardiovascular system is strong, I can do physical work for much longer periods without getting tired. I can look back and finally see what led me to this point.

  1. My mother smoke while pregnant with me.
  2. I am patterned because I was raised in a house of cigarette smokers.
  3. I start playing around and occasionally smoking cigarettes at age 13.
  4. At age 14 I am addicted to tobacco.
  5. I quit and start again for the next 30 some odd years.
  6. At age 47 I am diagnosed with throat cancer.
  7. At age 48 I take up running.
  8. In the past year I have run two 5ks, one 10k and am training for a marathon. I ran ten miles last week.

Negative can lead to positive

Another example:

  1. I learn to read at age 5
  2. I write my first story at age 6
  3. I fall in love with reading at age 8.
  4. In the third grade, I read a biography on Louisa May Alcott and decide I want to be her. Since I can’t be her, I climb up into an apple tree and decide  to be a writer like her.
  5. For the next thirty years I write on and off. I am NOT Louisa May Alcott. (But I am living my life and having experiences which later affect my writing.)
  6. I start writing nonfiction for money.
  7. I get lots of rejections and keep going.
  8. Soon I’m in national magazines and am a contributing editor for Disney online.
  9. In 2008  my first novel is picked up by Simon and Schuster
  10. In 2011, I sell Houdini’s Daughter which becomes Born of Illusion.
  11. I’m still not Louisa May Alcott.

Positive leads to negative leads to positive.

This concept of reaping and sowing and harvesting leads to perspective, which is not only helps curb my negative reactive behavior, but is also one of the keys to living a life of peace and gratitude.

Action: Look for the patterns in my life, especially when I am about to embark on a worry trip. Also, make some homemade ketchup.