Sometimes people get a reputation for things. for example, a very dear and old friend of mine used to describe her mother as a ‘smile on legs’ and everybody knew her for her sweet and embracing nature. I know people who have a reputation for being the exact opposite of my friend’s mother. I have friends who are known for their stoicism, I know people who are known for their great ability as entrepreneurs, they ‘turn anything they touch to gold’. my dear old father in law was known for being a great gardener. whereas for me, my reputation with gardening is that I even have the ability to kill artificial plants!! I don’t do amazing gardens. I do neat, I do wild looking, but amazing is way beyond my abilities. consequently, I don’t really enjoy gardening (or is it because I don’t enjoy it that I don’t do amazing gardens?). being out in the garden, for me, is more than a chore. I grumble and complain about everything that screams at me that I am a failure. my poor wife and sons have learned to stay clear of me when I am in the garden. one day, a friend told me, ‘maybe you should stop to enjoy your garden some time. it seems to me that the only time you are out there is to weed or to edge or mow are prune or deadhead or hose down but never to simply sit and enjoy’. so yesterday morning, while the sun was warm, and the air was still, I took my coffee and sat on a step in the garden, with the sun on my back. I drank my coffee slowly and just stopped for a bit. now no matter how you look at my garden, you would need the imagination of a great artist to see it as beautiful. but this time, instead of looking at the details that needed improvement, I looked at the details that were perfect. I saw bees buzzing about the lavender. I saw rose buds and nasturtiums and daises. I saw ferns gently swaying in a breeze and the slow falling of leaves from the trees next door and my heart was warmed. I actually managed to be out there ‘enjoying being’ in the garden for over an hour … without a word of grumbling. and I realised that sometimes I live my life as I garden. I make my life such a chore. so much always to do and nothing is ever completed. always tomorrow something else to address. it’s tiresome, it’s draining, it’s sometimes overwhelming and burdensome. but today, I stopped and looked at all that I have in life that I enjoy … and here I am … and I still haven’t been able to capture everything. sometimes we just need to ‘stop and enjoy the garden’. yes, there is probably more that needs doing, there will always be more that needs doing … but there is still beauty … here and now. yes … even here and even now … enjoy … the garden of life …