Reaping Rewards
In the previous week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of “sowing.” In two unrelated spheres, it’s stood out to me as a concept to examine and embrace.
First, an e-mail quote by Robert Louis Stevenson: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.” I have a tendency to look at life by what’s NOT being accomplished. The to-do list tasks that pile up, undone. The unreturned e-mails. The contacts to contact that I haven’t contacted. In the missing blanks of a thriving business, a 
successful relationship, a fat bank account — that’s where I look for proof of what’s going right.
But if I were to start judging my days on the seeds I’ve planted, I would see a fertile plain and a rich crop for the future. There are emails I have sent, applications I’ve put in, people I have connected with, encouragement I’ve given, prayers I’ve prayed. And the result of yesterday’s seeds planted me in the life I lead now — why should it be any different going forward?
The other forum on the seed/planting concept arose from a discussion I had the other day with a young man who is “sowing his wild oats.” To his way of thinking, he wants to experience everything early on, so that by the time he settles down and gets married he won’t be tempted to cheat. On the surface, it’s a great idea, and certainly one answer to the classic “why men cheat” question. But when I thought about it a little deeper, I found it to be naive. Unfortunately, we can’t safeguard against future circumstances.
What if the root of infidelity in a marriage comes not from lack of youthful experience, but from boredom? Or loss of a child, creating distance between partners? Or workaholism, alcoholism, chauvinism? Why not have the seeds we plant today show us how to bond with one another, and seek to find the ultimate experience in one person rather than a multitude under the guise of “sowing wild oats?”
If a seed bears the fruit of the tree, then what can you expect from the seeds you’re sowing?
