Greetings!
Below is an excerpt from a beautiful book I’m enjoying called “The Mindful Woman” by Sue Patton Thoele, particularly poignant as I harvested the last of our vegetable garden this week. This reading reminded me of my own growth steps in life, as well as the courage and patience found within the process of making deep change. This is the season for ripening and making choices that lead to transformation over time.
And speaking of transformational choices…..the deadline is nearly here for the Intuitive Eating teleclass series beginning next week. This Thursday, October 15th, is the last day to sign up. Just as a reminder, the link is here:
http://loriboothroyd.com/?page_id=898 .
I hope you enjoy today’s short excerpt from Sue Patton Thoele, titled ”Waiting for Ripeness”:
Allowed to mature naturally, fruits and vegetables ripen in their own time according to the type of soil, sun, and rain they enjoy. Forcing them to grow in accordance with our schedules and desires by placing them in a hothouse seems an apt metaphor for many of the demands we place on ourselves. We expect to become proficient in everything from computers to parenting skills quickly and effortlessly and can feel like failures if we don’t know what to do right now when faced with a crucial decision. It’s as if we expect our own maturation process to resemble the instant-access technology we rely on. It ain’t gonna happen.
The sooner we accept the fact that time ripens all things – especially we human beings – the more calm, patient, and peaceful we become. Just as fruits and vegetables need the sun and rain to come to fruition, we need and deserve to ripen slowly and fully in the light of our acceptance. Poet Rainer Maria Rilke encourages us to “have patience with everything unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves.”
Rilke’s statement is an important one for me. Reading it encourages me to relax into the unknown, trusting ripeness will happen in the fullness of time.
As I write about ripeness, the difference between vine-ripened and hothouse tomatoes keeps coming into my mind. I was raised in hot, humid Missouri, where I learned to love garden fresh tomatoes. But I like them peeled. Not a problem for vine-ripened tomatoes. Their skins slide off easily. However, the best way to get skin off of hothouse tomatoes is to first dunk them in boiling water, but they still don’t taste like “real” tomatoes. Hmm…..How often have I gotten myself in hot water by doing or saying something before the time was ripe or expecting myself to be or do what I was not yet fully ripened into and ready for? Quite a few times, actually, and the forced, accelerated results were not as delicious as they might have been had I trusted that ripeness would come in due time.
Practice……
- Lovingly become aware of areas in which you are pushing yourself faster than you can comfortably and competently go.
- Take a few slow, deep breaths, and relax into the idea of ripeness.
Throughout your day……..
- Ask yourself if this idea, decision, action or emotion is really fully ripe. If not, wait, trusting that time and intention ripens all things.
The sweetness of a ripe fruit is worth the wait.
Until next time,
Lori
