When You Just Don’t Want to
Pulling the Weeds
April 2007

“Die when I may, I want it said of me that I plucked a weed and planted a flower wherever I thought a flower would grow.” Abraham Lincoln

Don’t Want To

Okay so I have a thing with weeding.  I loathe it.  And I know how strong that feels.  It’s partly the leaning over and eventual backache, and partly that it’s just tedious.  I don’t like caked up dirt under my nails (yes, I am such a girl), and I am convinced I have the most deeply rooted weeds in all of Denver.  Sometimes it takes most of my weight and leverage to pull these monsters up.  As a result, I tend to postpone it.  And we all know what happens when you think you can postpone weeds.  Ha.  So what to do when there are weeds that need addressing in your life?                 

Ignore it.  It will go away.

Dripping with sarcasm.  Whatever my life’s version of weeds, inevitably they won’t go away, be it my bookkeeping, a nagging relationship issue or a project that looms large and overwhelms me to stuckness.  However, this is always a “choice.”  I can’t say it’s a good one, as it’s a massive stress-inducing, energy drain.

Envision the Relief

The dread and distaste with which you anticipate your weed is far from motivating, right?  Instead of dwelling on the “overwhelm” of it, try to imagine how great it will be when it’s handled.  This begins to change how you feel about it.  As soon as I start to think about how much better my yard will look without the weeds, I start to feel a little lighter.  Something shifts and a small opening is created for possibility.  Resistance transforms to possibility, possibility rolls into willingness.  All because I start to shift my association from “task = tedious” to “task = relief.”  Maybe one day my weeding will = meditation.  I’m not there yet.

Small Steps

Frequently I support clients on seemingly overwhelming projects – ones that feel too immense to begin.  They often get frozen in place thinking about the gazillion steps that need doing.  Running a business can be like that.  If I run through all the “to-do’s” at once I might rather lay down for a nap.

Break it into pieces.  For the particularly irksome, set a timer and just work for ten minutes.  Then stop.  Seriously, don’t keep going.  You might not think you’ll progress but it is truly amazing how many weeds you can pull in ten minutes.  Suddenly, you’re making a dent, feeling lighter, more motivated.  After a few 10-minute stints, you might decide to set the timer for 15 or 30 minutes because it feels good to take forward steps.  Choose to do more because you want to.  It feels completely different than feeling like you have to!

Simply begin where you are.  One minute, hour, day at a time.  It may not always look like you are making progress, but I assure you, if you tend to your weeds consistently, and steadfastly, one day you’ll be amazed with your results.  As for my weeds, (with the help of my landlord) they are all now either pulled or sprayed, with a whole section cleared and covered with plastic and woodchips!  Hallelujah!  I do believe in miracles.

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