5 Steps You Must Take Now to Harvest Your Wisdom or Lose 50% of the Gain from Pain

Stop! Don’t run off. Read part One to learn about step one and step two.

Pain offers a harvest for you to be able to gather wisdom from and live a better life. When you wake up in the middle of the night wondering, “How did I get in this mess,” it is time to turn inward. Why? Because inside you there is a lesson to learn.

Don’t Run away from your pain. Harvest the kernels of wisdom that pain has to offer. Harvesting needs your attention.

Fall is a time to harvest the fruits of your labor. Separate the fruit from the plant and you use it to sustain yourself. Harvesting from the pain in your life leads to personal wisdom and growth. However, the fruit does not magically appear. It takes your effort to have a good crop. Wisdom from pain is the same. What steps do you need to take to have a good crop?

Step One:

Start with the soil. Not all soil is good for growing all plants. You need to prepare the soil. How does this apply to you in harvesting wisdom? How do you prepare yourself? Weeding and nurturing yourself with loving kindness. Take time to examine your life for the things that drain you or hinder you in the way of personal growth.

Do you have people in your life who are critical, unsupportive or act as obstacles? Be honest. Honesty takes courage. Find your courage to look closely at who you surround yourself with in relationships.

Look closely at your habits too. Do you have a well-balanced life style? Again, this takes honesty and courage. Your health is directly connected to a well-balanced life style. Health is more than physical. Spiritual health, financial health, mental health as well as inter-personal and intra-personal relationships can be fertile ground for weeds to sprout.

You may get your hands dirty pulling weeds. You may notice rocks, clay, or sand in the dirt. The earth has a variety of conditions for growing a variety of plants. So it is the same in life and with you throughout life.

Once the weeds are removed and the soil is prepared for planting you need to assess the conditions of the soil. Assess if you are ready. What are the conditions in your life that are conducive to growing? Do you need to do something to prepare yourself? See a therapist, a pastor, a financial advisor, a coach or mentor, a doctor or nutritionist to get what you need. Pray, exercise, make friends, go on a retreat, journal. What helps you get in touch with your inner life? Dig. Maybe the soil needs fertilizer for what you want to grow. Only you can make the decision of what you need.

Step Two:

The next step is planting. Do you start with seeds or potting plants? Do you need something new or do you need to nurture what you already have in your life? Get a plan. What do you want to grow? How do you go about reaching your goal to have the garden of your dreams? Percolate. Let your ideas, your wishes, your dreams rise to the surface. This takes time and silence. Tend to your silence with a watchful mind. What speaks to you? Listen. Observe. Be a witness to your own process. Respect what percolates to the top.

Take some time. It’s your life and it is important to you. No need to rush. However, put a time limit on how much time you need for percolation. When is the best time to plant? If you find you are percolating too long it is the weed called procrastination. You know procrastination leads to missing the peak time to foster the most favorable outcome. Slow down but keep moving. If you find yourself in park and paralyzed. Get in gear and do something. Anything. Even the smallest movement creates momentum.

Step three and four will be covered in the next post. Meanwhile, let me know what is percolating in your life. I would love to hear from you on how and what you are doing to create an opportunity to harvest your wisdom.

Related Posts:

1. Using Body-Centered Psychotherapy to Help You Move Beyond Trauma and Pain
2. My 5 Secret Tips to Managing the Storm
3. Peace of Mind and Acceptance 

(C) Copyright  2014 Brenda Bomgardner