How To Improve Your Health By Gardening
After spending many years working for a large corporation, I decided to quit and start my own business. It was wonderful in the beginning. I could wake up when I wanted to, I did not have to make the long commute to the office, and I could choose which days I wanted to work. After awhile, though, I started to notice I was very stressed, and that I had put on a few too many pounds. It was no big deal, I told myself, I would find time to work out when my business was stable.
Two years and fifty pounds later, I knew I really needed to do something drastic. But what? My business had taken off, and I never had time to work out! The freedom of being in control of my own schedule became an inability to stop working. I was fat, tired, stressed and starting to think about going back to an office job.
As a last-ditch effort to turn things around, I made the decision to join a gym. I figured the gym contract and expense of the whole thing would guilt me into never missing a workout. It would force me to follow through.
I kept putting it off. Then, one particularly stressful day, I made some coffee and went out on the back porch to take a break. It was a beautiful day, and I was feeling upset that I never got outside anymore. To distract me from all the negative thoughts and stress, I grabbed a book from the side table. It was a gardening book.
I had always loved everything about the idea of gardening and had always wanted to start a big one of my own. I could picture myself plunging my hands into the warm soil, watching the little seeds come up, getting to harvest my own fresh vegetables. For years I collected gardening books and articles, reading them and stacking them up for the one day I would finally be able to do it.
That’s the moment when it became clear to me. My body and mind were resisting the idea of the gym, longing for a garden… Why was I depriving myself? Instead of giving my money to a gym and hating everything about it, I could spend that money on garden supplies and love every moment! I could find a way to live longer, lose weight, and be happy at the same time!
I put in my garden. And although I will not be getting into a pair of skinny jeans any time soon, I did lose some weight. More importantly though, I was able to realize a dream and also found a great way to deal with the stresses of my business. There is nothing I find more relaxing than going out to the garden. On a busy day I find it easy to go outside for a while and do a couple gardening chores, just enough to recharge my batteries. I have even gotten to the point where I grab a gardening magazine instead of a snack! My garden helped me realize that health is not just about weight. It’s about happiness.
