Spring is about personal growth, new beginnings. But before flowers bloom and life flourishes there is death; there are endings, and this is true of relationships too. How do you know which should end or remain? How do you nourish your love and friendship ties during this inspiring time? Here are some tips on how to spring clean your relationships.
TAKE STOCK OF YOUR GARDEN
Gardens are filled with a variety of flowers, just like your life is filled with different personality types, friendships, and relationship dynamics. However, a garden can become crowded. There isn’t enough soil to go around, or there isn’t enough water to nourish. This is also true of relationships. You know that friend that continues to bring you down, adding a ‘but’ to your great news and successes? She’s a snappy Venus Fly Trap. And she has to go! You want to revel in the sun, not wither in the dark, or worse—be devoured like a worm.
So, when reviewing your relationship garden, take note of who surrounds you. Do you have poison ivy, bright sunflowers, or droopy brugmansias? Identify those that shouldn’t be in your garden and nip that relationship in the bud.
Read Related: Spring Forward: Time to Leave the Winter Blues Behind!
PULL THE WEEDS
Weeds grow quickly and kill everything in their proximity. This also goes for people who carry negative energy, ill intentions, or have ineffective life-coping mechanisms. Negative energy is contagious. It is pesky and troublesome, much like weeds, and it outdoes the good that you’ve cultivated. The more weeds that crowd nearby, the more difficult it is to for you to grow.
What steps can you take to pull the weeds from your life? When taking stock of your relationship garden, note the troublemakers around you and take immediate action. Confront these people with kindness, to neutralize their negativity. Be honest. Stand up for yourself. Then, uproot the relationship.
FERTILIZE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
Now it is time to protect and nourish your relationship garden. Much like fertilizer is added to soil to supply nutrients that are essential for plant growth, you need to add some tender loving care to the relationships that matter. That should be all of your relationships now!
BE PATIENT & KIND
Observe an avid gardener and notice how much love, patience, understanding, and kindness she bestows upon her garden. She tends to it often, checking in on its progress. She gets to the root, even when it gets messy. This is how you must tend to your relationships. If you do, next spring will be much easier and you’ll shine much brighter.
