Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. ~~Robert Louis Stevenson

I find this quote very profound. Until I read this, I had never thought about my day in this way. I always thought about what I accomplished in the light of what I had completed, not about what seeds I had planted.

Now I see that if I evaluate my day by what I've completed, then I'm more focused on the outcome than on the creative process. And for me, it's really the creative process – the planting of seeds – that feels exciting. It's strange to me that I've always known I get really excited by new ideas, yet I've never thought to evaluate my day by the ideas I start, rather than the ideas I complete.

What a brilliant statement by Robert Louis Stevenson! Even when I plant a garden, I'm actually more fulfilled by the completion of planting the seeds than by reaping the harvest. Not that reaping the harvest isn't wonderful – I do love that – but there is something about planting a seed that will germinate into a delicious vegetable or a beautiful flower that feels really great!

This is a REALLY important concept to keep in mind.

How often have you had an idea, gotten very excited about it, and then when you finally bring it to fruition you feel a bit of a let down? Maybe you feel great for a week or two, but then the high fades. For me, it's the creative process that really generates the high of fulfillment.

I realized in coming to this awareness that this is why I'm able to let go of the outcomes of my projects. If I was invested only in the outcome of something – like an article, or a book, or one of my courses, or SelfQuest, I might not ever start the project – might not ever plant the seed. Fortunately, I rarely think about the outcome when I start something, and I’m glad of this, as I think that it would stop me in my tracks. Too many of my clients have never planted the seeds of their desires, due to worrying about the outcomes.

Then I think of people like Vincent Van Gogh, who didn’t reaped the full harvest of his paintings during his lifetime. He planted many seeds that have brought immeasurable joy to millions of people – never knowing that this would be the outcome of the seeds he planted. I wonder – had he known the outcome, would he have been any happier? Saner? Perhaps knowing how much people value his work now would have helped him to value himself more. If this is true, then is it planting the seeds - or the harvest - that truly creates the validation and the joy?

Actually, it seems to me that it's both. Perhaps the above quote would be more powerful as, "Don’t judge each day only by the harvest you reap but also by the seeds that you plant."

This is what seems balanced to me – to receive joy from the seeds I plant, and also from the harvest I reap.

Not one without the other. And to not let worrying about the harvest stop me from planting the seeds. Of course I want the harvest; I want people to benefit from the seeds I plant. But when I look at each day, it's planting the seeds that brings the aliveness to my life. 

I hope you don't allow the fear of not reaping the harvest to stop you from planting the seeds. I hope you let go of worrying about outcomes and become more fully present for the process of manifesting yourself – of planting the seeds that only you can plant.

Join Dr. Margaret Paul for her 30-Day at-home Course: "Love Yourself: An Inner Bonding Experience to Heal Anxiety, Depression, Shame, Addictions and Relationships."

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