Memories and Tapping in the positives

I always find myself feeling a little sad as the summer season ends. However today as I was driving on a quiet county road I noticed the beautiful fields on either side of the road. On the left a corn field, tall and majestic, curving around the power poles in a beautiful wave. On the right a brilliant green and lush bean field also curving ever so gently around the poles. As I took in this beautiful sight I was reminded of the skill I am always encouraging…Tap in the positive… This was a perfect time to tap!

I also was brought back to my childhood and a memory of a man named Harry, whom I always called the Norwegian farmer. This gentle man allowed a skinny, city kid to work in his bean field. I do not think there is such a thing anymore as bean walking (and I’m not that ancient, lol) but Harry was a good steward of the land and believed in encouraging the kids to work and appreciate the land and landscape around them. I know in the first 5 minutes I chopped a bunch of beans, instead of yelling and making a young girl feel stupid, he in his gentle manner showed me what a bean plant looked like and what weeds he wanted chopped down. He also explained why he wanted the corn stalks cut down. It was a sign to Harry when he saw a bean field devoid of corn stalks and weeds that that was a good farmer, a good steward of the land.

What does this journey down memory lane mean? Well, it brought to my mind how we are all walking our journey and working at cleaning up the weeds in our life. It is an analogy to look at the world and recognize that even though we think we cleaned that field, weeds again popped up and needed to be chopped down again. We can be good stewards of our landscape working at shaping our mind, body and spirit. Continually chopping down those weeds as they pop up in our lives while still noticing the beauty around us; just like the milk weed that has the butterfly sitting upon it. There is always beauty around us. Let us remember to tap in the positives. Notice as the seasons change the growth and beauty, the quiet stillness, the storms and calm of the day and tap in everything beautiful and positive and awe inspiring that you see and do.

We are all working on our landscape; don’t be discouraged if the journey seems long. You are doing a good work! Open your eyes to the positives all around you and like the butterfly on the milk weed that popped up in the beautiful bean field; give yourself a butterfly hug and tap, tap, tap

Enjoy all the seasons of your life!

Lisa Marie Raines

PS 

I thought I was done but more memories popped up (weeds?) In that moment in time when I was bean walking it was not a pleasant experience. It was too early… it was too hot… it was dirty…. there were tons of bugs and it was hard work! Just like the walk you are on right now, much of it is not fun. I may now have fond memories of Harry and love seeing a clean bean field, but at that moment I remember cruel voices making fun of a city girl who didn’t know a bean from a weed, feeling tired, hot and sick from bugs, but moving forward to complete the job (no matter how much I wanted to quit!). Continue your “bean walk” as long as we keep moving we are being a good steward of our landscape. There was a reward after my work in the field; I got my first pay check and later in life much appreciation of the hard work of farming and the beauty of the land. You too can see the beauty of your journey if you just look closely through the bugs, weeds and dirt, to the beautiful butterfly on the milk weed. Smile and tap it in……

Harry would approve