Have you ever grown a lawn from seeds? I have, and they took only about four days to sprout. This time I decided I wanted a smoother lawn-look than fescue gave. After doing a bit of research, I decided to grow centipede grass.
I bought a bag of seed but failed to read the small print: Up to 30 days to sprout! And I had to keep the ground evenly moist at all times until they sprouted!
Oh, well, what was done was done, and I just had to keep on nurturing my investment. I jokingly told people that I had to go “water my dirt,” and at first I thought it was funny. But after about a week, I felt foolish standing there faithfully spraying the dirt with water twice a day, not knowing if they were ever going to sprout. I wondered what my backyard neighbor thought.
- Persist in following and nurturing your plan, even if you look foolish.
I had done my part by preparing the soil properly. I kept telling myself, “The seeds are there — they didn’t go anywhere — and they’ll come up when they’re ready.” But I also had the thought, “What if they’re no good and won’t ever sprout? In that case, I’m watering dirt for up to a month for nothing!” That’s where the blind faith came in. I had to gamble on their potency and keep watering as the instructions said.
- If you know you’ve done your part properly, rely on blind faith.
That didn’t stop me from creating a contingency plan. If the seeds turned out to be no good, I was going to call the number on the bag and use the company’s “unconditional” guarantee. (They’re smart to offer this for seeds that can take up to a month to germinate!)
- Have in mind a contingency plan to keep yourself calm.
I was also going to either choose a faster-sprouting seed next or just make do this year with the small triangular patch of fescue I have now — which is thriving thanks to the twice daily watering!
- Have a deadline in mind for changing the plan or implementing your contingency plan if things don’t come to fruition by that deadline.
After 20 days of watering dirt twice a day in my backyard, the grass seeds sprouted! This is significant for me because it illustrates how persistence (with a little blind faith) pays off.
This germination was divine timing because the day before, I woke up feeling so overwhelmed with the technology I was trying to learn that I felt panic all day and also had a migraine. I was in limbic system freakout.
Here are a couple of techniques I use to get back into a positive frame of mind:
- Listen to the doubting thoughts and then tell yourself a positive “What if…?” story.
- Practice gratitude for what’s going well in your life right now. Even just trying to think of things to be grateful for triggers “happy” chemicals in your brain.
What I learned is to counteract my thoughts of doubt and keep going, having faith that what I’m investing in will work — as long as I don’t give up and keep following the plan.
I hope this helps you, too.