Worry is like planting seeds and them digging them up every day to see if they’ve sprouted. I’m paraphrasing a Louise Hay quote. But the essence remains: worry ruins good thoughts. According to Hay, it also ruins attracting goodness to one’s life.
I’ve been worrying a lot lately. I’ve been spending obscene amounts of time calculating fictional numbers on behalf of myself and a dear client, positing to myself all kinds of hypothetical situations, and how they are likely to play out. I’ve made the gray days of autumn in the northeast darker for myself. No matter how many lamps I turn on in my apartment, which is also my office, I still can’t see the light.
And that’s because the light from within has been on a consistent downward dimming spiral.
Until yesterday. The day before yesterday I threw a bunch of lentils in a bowl and covered them with water, soaking them with the intention of preparing them later in the day. Time got away from me, and there the lentils stayed for an extra day. When I finally drained them and put them in a pot I noticed something beautiful: they had sprouted.
Sprouted foods, according to nutritionists, are healthier, making the enzymes, vitamins, amino acids, and other nutrients easier for our bodies to absorb. Contrary to popular belief, we are not what we eat. We are what we absorb.
Sprouted lentils may not sound magical in the retelling of the story, but for me, witnessing those hard little bits of seed, almost stone-like in texture, sprout a living, growing, beautiful green plant changed my perspective. It reminded me of the lesson I most need to learn right now: take actions, let go of the results. Stop worrying. Something lovely can bloom when I least expect it.
