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Seedtime and Harvest: A TRUE Life Principal By Wendolynn L. Allen
It was popularized at the beginning of the Computer Age, but defined in terms of “INPUT = OUTPUT”. We were taught that a computer could only do (output) what man programmed (input) it to do; in physics, we were taught that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction (Newton’s 3rd Law). Sowing and reaping is the cause and effect of everything in the Earth. The farmer plants a seed of corn and, in time, it brings forth corn. The gardener plants a dandelion seed and, in time, a dandelion shoots up. A woman conceives a child and, in time, the baby is birthed into the world. Everything has a cause that leads to an effect – a reproduction of its own kind.
As we daily renew our decision to have our best body ever (and yes, a daily commitment renewal is required), we set into motion this very intrinsic life principal. With our decision to sleep in an extra five minutes or spend that time organizing our day. With our decision to eat half a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast or to scramble some eggs and eat a piece of fruit. Each and every decision we make has a predetermined effect that all too often we are greatly aware of yet choose to ignore until we see the evidence of the chain reaction we have set into place. At that moment, for whatever reason, we tend to believe that we can reverse that reaction with little effort and a slap on the wrist. We fail to realize that it takes more time to undo the effect than it took for us to initiate the cause. I read a quote the other day by Aristotle that said that excellence was a habit and therefore something we strive for continuously, not a single target (paraphrased). If this is true, and I believe it is, that statement is very supportive of the seedtime and harvest principal.
The main key to this principal is “time”. It takes time for all things to come forth as they are supposed to, as a replication of its precursor. The thing that gets a lot of people is the dullness of the waiting period. If the farmer plants a seed then goes out the next day to see his harvest, he will be sorely disappointed. Nature calls for him to nourish that seed for a specified time and watch it endure many hardships until its appointed time arrives and the crop shoots forth in its glorious splendor. The same is true with our physical fitness. When we initially plant the seed to become more physically fit, or to change a certain lifestyle behavior, it is necessary that we nourish that seed for a time and endure the hardship of breaking a bad habit. It is during this hardship that we really grow and discover who we are and what we have inside of ourselves. When we are able to withstand the discouragement of seemingly having no encouragement to continue, we are forced to dig down to the depths of our souls and bring to the forefront of our minds the TRUE motivating factor. Love for ourselves (not of ourselves) should spring forth as the single most important reason to endure the hardship of change in order to create a more positive behavior pattern. Love is our motivating factor to press forward, unceasingly, waiting for the appointed day when we shoot forth in spectacular fashion to display who and what we were intended to be. It takes time, and an old school work ethic of “blood, sweat and tears”. We can never profit from an investment we have never made.
If you sow it, you will reap it. And always remember if you reaped it, it is because you sowed it. Galatians 6:7-10
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