Cultivating

By C. LaRene Hall

I’m sure during the spring and summer we all worked hard in our gardens. We did lots of cultivating and planting hoping to have a successful crop. I leave most of the gardening to my husband, but there are some things he can’t do for me.

No one but me can cultivate an attitude of happiness within my heart. I need to do a good enough job that no one can remove it. If I have enough hopefulness, cheerfulness, and confidence maybe, I’ll be okay.

Every member of the family needs to cultivate happiness in the home. Sometimes one person can mess it up for everyone. I hope that if there is enough kindness, thoughtfulness, and everyone tries to assist each other it will work. Cultivating a grateful heart and also a good sense of humor can also help.

Through the years, I’ve also learned to choose good friends who do not try to make me choose between their ways and the Lord’s ways. I’ve also tried to cultivate within myself the qualities of a good friend.

My parents taught me that I should develop whatever talents I have, and if I do, those talents will grow and become an expression of my true self. My music ability was encouraged as I learned to play the violin, sing, and dance. Only my hard work cultivated these talents. No amount of wishing I could do it would have helped. It took lots of practice.

Since I learned early to seek within myself for the talents I possess, I’ve enjoyed doing many things. Without that determination, I would never have had the nerve to tackle writing, and I would not keep trying. It seems that with every rejection I receive the harder I try. I hope that if I’m a bad writer someone will tell me because when people tell me my stories are good I become more and more determined to have them published.