You Reap What You Sow.

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You Reap What You Sow

by Marta Kagan

"You Reap What You Sow." This seems like the most logical of all of life's lessons. I've witnessed its truth in nature hundreds of times. You cannot plant corn and expect to get roses. If you plant corn, you'll grow corn. If you want to grow roses, you had better plant roses.

But somehow this simple bit of wisdom eludes most of us. We ignore what nature teaches us, opting to believe in the convincing illusions that our egos create. We trade common sense for shiny holograms -- brought to us by technology, religion, and celebrity endorsements. We stop taking responsibility for our lives and absent-mindedly hand over the reigns to somebody (therapists, partners, prescriptions, fashion magazines…), to anybody else.

So let me say it once more: YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

For example…

You cannot experience effortless, miraculous weight loss simply by ingesting a little pill that contains "cutting-edge fat-blocking agents." To lose weight, you have to change your diet. Exercise. Improve your relationship with your body and with food.

You cannot improve your personal relationships by nagging, bullying or manipulating people, avoiding conflict, or pretending to be someone you're not. To improve your relationships, you have to communicate (that means listening as well as speaking), compromise, let down your guard, take responsibility for your actions, remain open to change.

You cannot become fabulously successful or exceptionally skilled at something by watching "Access Hollywood" seven-nights a week. To realize success, wealth, or mastery, you have to get your butt up off the couch and commit to your passions. Nurture them. Develop an aversion to the concept of having "something to fall back on". Invest your energy, focus, and time into that which you love.

You cannot solve a problem by ignoring it. You cannot expect things to change simply because you want them to. YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW. Problems will be solved when you actively pursue and apply solutions. Changes will occur when you do something different than what you've always done before.

If you spend your life trying to look good, play it safe, and live up to everybody else's expectations… guess what? Your life will be characterized by an addiction to external validation, a powerful need to please and obtain the approval of others, and a near-constant anxiety that one of these days, people will realize that you're really not "all that".

You reap what you sow.

A lot of my clients hire me to help them discover what it is they were meant to do with their lives – to find their core purpose, their mission, their raison d'etre. Well, I'll let you in on a secret. We all ultimately share one mission: to live life on purpose! To follow your dreams, to be authentic, to SLOW DOWN every once in awhile. You have been given this one precious life (that could end at any given moment) to love, to laugh, to sing, to be kind to others, to share, to respect nature, to learn … to wear comfortable pants.

Contrary to popular belief, you are NOT here to look good in a bikini. You are not here to make lots of money or to "help people" or to be at the top of your class. And no, you're not here just to reproduce (though Mother Nature might disagree with me).

You are here to LIVE, boldly and FULLY. To taste life; to enjoy it. To discover and express completely who you truly are.

Oh and by the way, you may not live long enough to follow the dreams you are saving for "some day". You may not have 60 more years to discover and claim your true purpose in life. Your time might be almost up.

So take my advice. Pay attention to this one simple life lesson: You reap what you sow. So start sowing NOW! Sow the seeds of a life that holds PASSION, MEANING, TRUTH, LOVE.

And remember…

"You are not your bank account, or your ambitiousness. You're not the cold clay lump with a big belly you leave behind when you die. You're not your collection of walking personality disorders. You are spirit, you are love, … you are free." (-Anne Lamott)