Half dream states are a great time for the creative mind to flourish. Last Sunday I needed to get up for a pre dawn run in order to get all of the tasks of the day completed and prep for the amazing week ahead. There I lay in bed at 6am, feeling a need to rally but enjoying the visions of my relaxed mind. Instead of rushing to wake, I allowed myself a few moments to recall my dream in all of its weirdness. That is when I realized that life is like a tomato plant.
Did you know that tomato plants need to be pruned often for the fruit to be sweet and delicious? Like roses, clipping a tomato plant can be a bit difficult because the buds you clip will never bloom. You almost feel bad doing it, at first. Then you find that the fruit of the harvest is much more luscious and wonderful than it would have been if the sacrificed buds were allowed to bloom.
With tomato plants, cutting off the “sugar suckers” is key to the sweetness of the fruit. If left unpruned, a big huge plant with a high yield of fruit that looks pretty grand will develop. Upon closer inspection, and with a taste, you will find the fruit tastes watery, lacks flavor and really wasn’t worth the work you put into it.
On the other hand with the sacrifice pruning of the “sugar suckers” (the deceivingly beautiful sprouts at the intersection of the leaves and the stalk) you get a slower yield of lovely, slightly smaller tomatoes, that have a sweet flavor and wonderful texture. At harvest time, the fruit is much higher quality and the yield is just about the same.
In life there are many forms of “sugar suckers”. They are the needs that don’t serve our greater cause, the thoughts that sabotage our minds. They are the people that suck up our time and energy and leave us feeling watered down and heavy. They are the job that produces a lot of money, but does not serve what, deep down, we know is our greater purpose.
The great thing is that its never too late to cut the “sugar suckers”. You’ll soon learn that it takes more work and sharper scissors when the suckers are left to grow for too long. And sometimes the cuts get infected and kill a portion of the plant if not done with sharp and clean scissors! Keep your scissors clean and sharp. Prune early and often.
Are there “sugar suckers” in your life dragging you down? Is it time to prune back some things you don’t need in your life so that you can live more freely and cultivate what really matters? Ask these questions often. Sugar suckers never stop growing. Once you start grooming you will recognize them much more readily and once you taste the fruit of a pruned plant you will never be deceived again. The sooner you clip them off, the lighter the load you will bear, and the greater your chance of leading a healthy, sweet and fruitful life. Cultivate your life like with decisive pruning. Get rid of what is not serving your greater purpose. Life is too short to have all your sugar sucked!
Gumsaba Outdoor Fitness Class schedule Tuesday 10/21/14:
5:30AM Sunrise Danville Womens only class – Coach Michelle – TRX Strength Chipper
5:30AM Sunrise Danville Mens only class – Coach Joel – Strength Training Chipper
6AM Sunup Lafayette Co-Ed class – Coach Jentry – Strength & Cardio Training
9AM Sunshine Walnut Creek Womens class – Coach Michelle- TRX Strength Chipper
11:30PM Cytosport Strength Training Chipper – Coach Briana (private class)
12:30PM Cytosport Power Yoga – Coach Michelle (private class)