Life Lessons from Gardening: How My First Garden Helped Me Grow

I planted my first garden this year. It is something I had wanted to do for a while, but excuses kept getting in the way. Now that the growing season is over, certain life lessons from gardening have stuck with me well beyond the season. I find myself reflecting on a few lessons learned during this new journey.

I didn’t actually start in early spring like most people do. Life was busy, and making time for something new felt a bit overwhelming. By the time May rolled around, and I was nearing the end of a hectic season, I decided to just go for it. My sister and I purchased some starter plants which included kale, green pepper, cayenne pepper, and cherry tomatoes.

Right out of the gate, things weren't looking great. I gave it a few weeks, expecting to see significant growth, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Growth appeared stagnant—and at times nonexistent—not to mention the fact that bunnies had practically eaten the cayenne, which was gone early on. Then one day, the kale looked a little hearty, and the peppers had buds on them.

That’s when I realized: slow growth doesn’t mean no growth, and that's something I have to constantly remind myself of on this social media journey, and a major life lesson from gardening. I’ve been at it for a few years, I’ve been consistent, and I keep going even though most days I don’t see the growth in numbers, and it feels like people keep passing me by. But when I check in with myself, I realize there has been growth all along. I'm still growing—even if it’s at a slower rate—and I'm starting to see it pay off in small ways. I believe it’s going to lead to something bigger one day.

Fear of failure has always been a challenge for me. I was a high achiever growing up, and most of what I put my mind to, I accomplished. So the thought of, What if my garden doesn’t grow? was definitely on my mind. Was it as successful as I wanted it to be? No. But did it yield results? Yes. Even at almost 50 years old, I’m learning that you won’t know unless you try. And just like my garden, my influencer journey has been the same. Scared to start, scared of what people would think and scared of failing. But five years into this journey, I’m seeing results, even after a slow start, slow growth, and not being the most popular girl.

In the end, only one thing in my garden actually grew, and grew somewhat abundantly. While it wasn’t perfect, and some parts were disappointing, I still saw growth and that’s another of the life lessons gardening has taught me. As I continue along this social media journey, I’m realizing that patience, time, and effort will yield results—even if they don’t look exactly the way I thought they would.

I’m expecting big things in my life, and in my garden next year, and I’m here for every bit of the journey.