The Return of the Relentless Cantaloupe Plant

As mentioned in previous blog posts, I am an avid pescetarian. As such, I am all about local, fresh, organic, sustainable...all those aspects raise my antennas. So, in an attempt to enhance my pescetarian lifestyle, I have taken on the task of organic gardening with an intention to grow much of the food that I eat often. 

Home Greenhouse, Lowes.com

My initial intention was to grow a few veggies that frequent my kitchen via take out of that I cook such as zucchini, onion, carrots and tomato. My thought was that I could reduce my grocery bill by growing my own food in addition to the added health benefits. So, I started most items from seed in a little greenhouse similar to the image on the right. I later learned that growing tomato from seed, as a beginner gardener, is a bit ambitious. Also, I decided that I would grow all items in containers to reduce the chance of visits from my slithering friends. I DO NOT like snakes!

But, here's the question that I have been asking myself, "Kristin, if your intention was to simply grow a few items that you eat, why do you now have a three-tier garden stand and a host of seven different items?!" I confess, I have become a bit over zealous (sigh), I tend to do that. So, here's the run down of what I currently have in my container garden: black beauty zucchini; cherry, Better Boy and Heirloom tomatoes; black jalapenos; okra; onion; cilantro; carrots; basil; salad greens and cantaloupe. Cantaloupe?

It's a long story. Let's just say that I went to the farmer's market to get peaches and I left with a cantaloupe plant. What can I say? Farmers are friendly. However, this is not just any cantaloupe plant! She is RELENTLESS. When she came home with me she was healthy. I replanted her in a happy container. To my surprise, my curious dog, Dynasty, found the smell of the plant appealing and decided to pull it, root and all, out the the container a few days later. I returned home to find the plant on the ground, wilting and begging to be saved. I then, replanted it and began to water it and nurse it back to health. THEN, for about one week something began to chew on the leaves! I thought to myself, "seriously?!" 

Like the relentless gardener that I am, I began to research ways to revive my plant online. I began to spray the plant with soapy water each day to keep pest at bay. I also added organic plant food  and watered ferociously. Then one day, on a beautiful Monday morning this is what I found...

Meet Mrs. Cantaloupe...she's relentless!

Look at those beautiful little flowers reaching towards the sun, just waiting to produce fruit. Ooohhh, I was just delighted! The moral of the story...A little love, attention, focus and relentless nature always has a way of surprising you with success!

'Til next time...être bien!

Power Word of the Day: Relentless

 RELENTLESS (adj.): persistent; never-ceasing

If you want to have anything in this experience called "life" you must be RELENTLESS about it. It's just that simple.

It is my belief that there will be a time in which most goals that you seek to accomplish will require little effort to achieve. It will appear as though life is feeding you with a silver spoon and the stars have aligned in your favor. I can remember the times in my life when such was the case. In fact, until I reached my thirties, I had achieved (with success) every single goal that I had set out to accomplish with little effort.  What do I mean by “little effort”?  Well, I created a bare bones plan in most cases and followed the plan. In most every case, the result was success.

Then, I was introduced to the new me in my thirties and God began to further develop my character. He began to show me that there would be goals and tasks that would require persistence, sincere faith and deep focus to achieve. I began to notice a pattern of God revealing tasks to me that seemed to be near impossible in the midst of limited resources or no clear plan. I later realized that I did not need to know the plan if He knew it, but that’s another blog entry. Moreover, I learned that there are times in which God wants to see just how serious we are going to be about the tasks that he has set before us. I learned (and am still learning) how to be RELENTLESS in regard to any task that He places before me.

In my opinion, a life without purpose is a life that will never reach its full potential. Emptiness, disconnection and a feeling of “there’s just something more” will always exist in the life of a person who has not found their purpose. That said, when we look at our power word for today, it is important that one become RELENTLESS about finding purpose first. If one can become relentless about finding their purpose, they will have little difficulty applying that relentless nature to other areas of their life.

So, just what does it mean to be RELENTLESS? For me, it means being fiercely determined and indubitably focused on my destiny. It is first, accepting what God has revealed to me; second, saying yes to the assignment; and third, knowing that God would not have given the task to me if he did not feel that I was well-equipped. Being relentless means staring into the face of naysayers with a smile and the consideration that they will often not understand the task that has been given to me. It will and should only make sense to those to which it needs to make sense. It is about being willing to lose friends, jobs, family members, whatever it takes to reach my full potential. Even more importantly, it is about being honest with myself and reminding myself that it is often ME that stands in my own way, not others. Further, it is about checking myself and getting into alignment with the BIG PICTURE and understanding that it is not just about me, but there are others connected to the fulfillment of my purpose.

So as we journey into our long weekend I ask….What do you need to become relentless about today?

Happy Fourth!

'Til next time...être bien!