A Lot of Work

My yard is quite beautiful right now with blooming crabapples, redbud, and a Kwanzan cherry. Eye-popping flowerbeds are crowded with the last pale yellow narcissus, blue forget-me-nots, and pinky-purple money plant.

Visitors to my garden sometimes say, "That's a lot of work."

What they mean is that the garden is a lot of time, energy, and caring.

• Children are a lot of work.
• Relationships are a lot of work.
• Maintaining a house and household is a lot of work.
• Working a job is a lot of work.
• Keeping track of a checkbook and savings is a lot of work.

"A lot of work" is another way to say "stress," and this is the Buddha's 1st Noble Truth.

Hidden inside even the things we love--children, spouse, home, (and maybe our work :)--is a lot of stress.

According to the 2nd Noble Truth, the cause of stress is desire (literally, thirst or hunger), and in the 3rd Noble Truth, the Buddha tells us how stress can come to a complete halt.

I'm not ready to halt gardening, but i have discovered my gardening "mission statement," which brings me a lot of joy:

I garden in order to give plants away.

Today, i'm potting up plants for the Garden Club plant sale this weekend. Joy overcomes stress.