As a child, I tackled everything with unbounded force…well almost everything. My school projects, cleaning my room, packing to move…all easy examples of times I wanted to give less of myself. My mom would enter the room with a smile and remind me – “you reap what you sow.” As a child I didn’t always understand the depth of her words. I knew it was a reminder to be my best self. My mom has this lightness about her. I rarely recall seeing her without her trademark smile. Her energy is truly magnetic. On Saturday mornings, music would fill our home as we danced around singing while we dusted the furniture. Lemon scented pledge…I will never forget the smell. I wanted to be like my mom in every way. She was my idea of perfection. So…when she told me to be aware of the seeds I was laying, I listened.

As I grew older it became a part of me. What you put out into the world will come back to you…according to my mom it comes back 10-fold. The lesson was simple and powerful. Oprah often talks about this as the energy you put out into the world. Many of us know it as karma. It is all the same. Everything you do plants seeds for what is to come – determining the quality of your own life.

When you reach the latter part of life and look back over your harvest, what will you see? Each day I tried hard to be the best me. Some days I was better than others. Other days I failed miserably, but I always knew at any moment I could begin to lay a new set of seeds. The older I get, I find myself watching as others around me sit starring at their dusty fields. They wonder why they have no harvest…despite never tending their own crop. At those moments I am even more grateful that I had a mom who taught me to plant the seeds for my soul early on and I wonder if those left harvest-less will ever really SEE.

Working the land can be hard and planting the seeds for your soul can at times be testing. It isn’t always easy doing the right thing. However not only is it rewarding, it is inspiring. For you see, the more you pay attention and nurture your soulful garden, the more you harvest within your lifetime….and that is truly priceless.

So go out and live life. Take the time to recognize the beauty and details. Let others know you appreciate them and their gifts. Then SPREAD the positive energy around like seeds and you will end up sowing an incredible life. And just maybe when you look back over your field, you will be filled with peace, love and boundless energy.