Will It Go Round In Circles?

I know that's a Billy Preston classic song (which I love), but that's not what I am talking about today. This is regarding a much deeper subject that I believe is an indisputable fact of life. In simple words, life is a circle and what you put out, good or bad, will eventually come back to you. There are several ways this has been described or labeled:

The Law of Reciprocity
Karma
You Reap What You Sow

Many hold significant differences in opinion about the circle of life and its origins. From my perspective. it can be wrapped up in a bow by reading this quote I saw on my grandfather's desk:

"Right living will be richly rewarded. Wrong living will be equally penalized."

Plant What You Want to Grow

If we looked at life like a garden, what would you plant? It's been proven that we tend to experience what we expect in life. If you plant weeds in your garden, what would you expect to grow? I think it is easy to champion the idea that you don't expect a rose garden. Your garden can be aesthetically perfect if you plant it correctly. In fact, what the garden ultimately produces will be determined by your decisions. The same is true about your life. What seeds will you plant?

Seeds for Life

Seeds of Contribution: "Give with one hand open and the other hand firmly closed." ~ Minnie Campbell
Seeds of Compassion: "Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things." ~ Thomas Merton
Seeds of Service: "Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seeds of Love: "In the end, nothing in life will matter as much as the way we have loved each other." ~ Daphne Rose Kingma
Seeds of Understanding: "Sometimes being understanding is more important than being right. Sometimes we need not a brilliant mind that speaks, but a patient heart that listens. Not keen eyes that always see faults, but open arms that accept. Not a finger that points out mistakes, but a gentle hand that leads." ~ Anonymous

The Gardeners

In a moment of total clarity, I realized who tends the soil, plants the seeds, and then harvests what they planted...it's you and you alone. The garden is planted in the hearts and minds of people. What we believe and what we feel determine the result of our life's journey. I don't know what seeds you will plant and have no ability to tend your garden, but YOU do.

I shared the seeds of my garden above in a moment of transparency. These seeds were given to me by great influences in my life. It is my hope these seeds will be planted by my five children throughout their lives as well.

George and Shirley Cummings (parents)
Minnie Campbell (grandmother)
George W. Cummings, Sr. (grandfather)
Sue Ellen Cummings (sister)
France's Brister (aunt)

I wish you the best as you plant your garden. We all see life through our own lens, and our perception of life is our reality. We all have the opportunity to make great choices about what we plant, when we plant, and how we plant our garden.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”

— Robert Louis Stevenson

Make a difference today.

Remember, It All Matters,

— Paul

Find out about Paul Cummings University demos here.

About the author: For over 30 years, Paul Cummings has taught dynamic life changing strategies on sales, customer service, communication, building a better business, and leadership. Millions have had the opportunity to learn what it means to live and work at Level 10.