Getting It Together

I remember sitting at a zone conference on my mission one day.  It was hot.  There was a bug crawling across the floor.  We were behind in our monthly goals just like a lot of other companionships.  Everyone needed a little inspiration.  Or maybe just some cold Pepsi.

My mission president started talking about his landscaping back home.  I was lost for while, but then he taught a simple principle that I have always remembered.  He talked about how we always have to cut the grass.  Regardless of the amount of care we provide for our flowers, or the number of hours we spend weeding, we will still always have to cut the grass.  When our grass is healthy and growing fast, we have to cut it even more often.

The only time we don't have to cut our grass is when it is dead.

In our lives, we have grass to cut regardless of our circumstances.  We get everything organized, we set goals, our houses are clean, and we think we are good to go.  The lines are crisp, and a sense of accomplishment and purpose can be found during certain seasons of our lives.

But the grass keeps growing.  We get busy.  We get lazy.  We get messy.  We forget the goals we set.  The things that seemed so important last week are rationalized away because we figure out that they are hard to put into practice.  The lines in the grass disappear, and weeds begin to grow.  If we let it go too long, the weeds begin to take over.

It's not generally a sign of weakness or negligence or even apathy. It is usually just entropy at work.  Things in a state of order tend to evolve into a state of chaos naturally.  So, rather than let the lawn grow into a mess of wild abandon, we simply cut it.  Sometimes, more drastic measures are necessary.  We might have to aerate, or use weed killer, or deal with pests.  But for the most part, we just cut the grass.

I think about that lesson a lot when I feel like my life is getting out of control.  I struggle with anxiety and depression from time to time.  When I look around me and feel like my physical environment is out of control, it is usually easier to give up before I begin, and tackle a new season of Netflix than it is to just put one thing away at a time.

Time is another thing that tends to grow out of control.  I work much better with a schedule and a very clear organization of my time.  But when it comes down to it, the things that need to get done are not usually the things anyone really likes to do.  So rather than take on a hard (or boring) task, I waste time online or find something more entertaining to fill my time.

Taking care of my body is hard work.  And it doesn't always taste very good.  That gourmet spinach salad I pinned on Pinterest last night looked so refreshing yesterday.  But chicken nuggets don't have to be washed. Or cut.  Or covered in dressing to taste acceptable.

In moments like this when I start to count the weeds in my life, it's easy to think that my life is a lost cause.  But all I really need to do is...

...cut the grass.