Nothing quite denotes new beginnings like a brand new plant pushing through the dirt. Whether you're a pro or rookie like me; that little plant brings a rush of excitement and hope. It doesn't matter if that plant is growing up to be beautiful flowers or bountiful produce; it brings pride knowing you aided in a natural occurring biological process to bring this helpless green thing life.

This same pride and excitement should be applied to every day of our lives. You woke up, you put on pants, and are ready to tackle the day with a cup of coffee. That's something to be proud of. Every day you accomplish something and push more and more out of the soil.

Soon the plant has leaves and grows a little taller; reaching for the sun. You've watered it and fed it the bag of fertilizer the man in the garden department of Lowe's told you was the best stuff. You pulled away the weeds that were stealing all the water. Now you wait.

Just like this little plant; in order to reach for the sun you need the right stuff. Take care of yourself by drinking water and eating healthy food. And weed out the people who are taking from your miracle grow; happiness. It's okay to get rid of people who don't help you grow, because in the long run you'll either grow so much they will be stuck in the shadow of your leaves or you'll be stuck in theirs.

It's now mid-summer and the temperature is rising. One day it just gets too hot, your poor little plant shrivels around the edges. It takes awhile for the plant to grow again; for the leaves to be green and healthy. But while you wait you still water it give it that special little fertilizer to make sure it has everything it needs to succeed.

We all get burned sometimes. We fall short of expectations or hit a boulder in the road to our goal. We shrivel up a bit and stop reaching for the sun. But just like we took care of our plant after it got burned we have to take of ourselves. Keep alive the hope and dreams; one hot day won't set it all aflame.

After the waiting and the extra TLC your little plant plant now has one little flower. The pride and excitement grows, but gardeners know that letting a small plant produce fruit will keep it from growing more and producing more. So you snip off that little flower because the ultimate goal is a big strong plant that produces lots.

That one flower could have kept hundreds more from growing because the plant wasn't ready for such an important task. Don't take on things you're not ready for. Projects you can't handle could jeopardize a bigger picture goal, a long turn relationship or career opportunity.

The weather starts to cool and the growing season is coming to an end. Your plant has flourished. It's time to harvest all your hard work. You carefully pick all the produce, bring it inside wash away the dirt and feel the glowing pride that you grew this. And now its going to feed you or someone else. Now that the harvest is finished you return to your once green garden to the dying plants. They have reached the end of their life span, so you plow them into the soil to feed the next generation. 'Tis the way of life.

You've reached your goal. Collected you're achievement and felt the pride. Now it's time to use your new skill, knowledge or life stage to better the world. If you just put your home grown tomato on the self to show it off before to long it will rot and be wasted. Use what use achieve to grow then use it as building blocks for the next goal.

Never stop growing.