Reasons to be Cheerful. Pt 1.

It's late summer the season of abundance - or so we hope.  If your attempts to grow tomatoes in this pretty dismal summer have been anything like mine you still have unsatisfying plants of green fruits, who have been sun-starved and won't ripen.  Boo. But the runners beans have thrived, so yay!!  But for me it's a cheerful time of year - the pure sunshine of fresh corn on the cob, raspberries, blackberries, apples, chard, squashes, yada yada, suffice to say if your heart doesn't gladden at nature's bounty then as an acupuncturist I think you probably need to come and see me, because it should quicken with joy!

So at this time of year, the harvest season, I tend to naturally find my thoughts turning to my own personal harvest. What is working in my life, which areas feel rich and abundant, and which are delivering diminishing returns, or not satisfying me as fully.  Like my sorry tomato crop.  One of the basic tenets of Five Element Acupuncture and living in a state of health is to live in the rhythm of nature, and this process is something that we should find ourselves naturally doing about now.    

I have so much to be thankful for, and many many reasons to be cheerful (my new haircut, my 10th wedding anniversary, a practice I love, the man in the cake shop who seems to be my newly appointed 'feeder'), but like most of us, still put energy and time into  areas of my worklife, friendships or other relationships that don't give me the harvest I need, or perhaps that they should.  Wrong soil, wrong fertiliser, wrong time, whatevs.   And that's fine, there's a wax and wane for everything.  What's right for now is to take stock.  Not in a heavy way, but simply recognise what has borne fruit and what hasn't, so we can decide what to let go of and what to take forward.

So maybe over this weekend spend a few minutes pondering some simple questions - do you have the capacity to enjoy your harvest? Or do you struggle to recognise what abundance is, or means to you?  Are you living in harmony with nature and her gifts? 

Anyway, if you need any inspiration for your own harvest list, Ian Dury is the man.  Reasons to be Cheerful.  Part 3. 

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https://youtu.be/CIMNXogXnvE