I saw this quote this morning and knew it beckoned to be shared.

“When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there.”  – Cecil Selig

How often do you longingly gaze at someone else’s life circumstances and wonder  “Why them and not me? How come they have the relationship, home, job, friends, success of MY dreams?” and then lean on the fence between your metaphorical yard and yours, admiring the green sprouts? What if, instead of pondering with a blend of resentment and resignation that it will never happen for you, you consider what it might have taken for that person to be having their experience and for you to be having yours?  I ask myself a similar question often:  “What would someone have to think or believe to be having the experience that I am having?” I pose that query in both celebration that things feel grand and in working on solutions for circumstances that in that moment, don’t feel so hot.  Without fail, it comes down to attitude.

In those times when I recognize the boundless blessings that surround me, I see them everywhere. And in the moments, when I am feeling disgruntled, it is generally because I am seeing the world through smudgy glasses. I admit that there are some situations over which I have no control. People have expectations for who I ‘should be’ or what I ‘should’ be doing. Rules, regulations and the illusion of time dictate that I have a structure to follow, that rebel as I might, are the agreements I make in order to live as an independent, self supporting, responsible adult. I can fight them, metaphorically kicking and screaming and still they are there.

In tending to my own lush lawn that is my life, I take responsibility for its upkeep, weeding out discontent, fertilizing it (sometimes life circumstances supply the manure:), keeping it from drying out, by watering it with love and self-compassion and then enjoying the waving blades of grass tickling my tootsies. Sometimes with childlike abandon, I roll around in it, laughing with delight.

How are you tending your grass?