Seeds determine harvest

I grew up in town but schooled in the countryside.

Then, my school was merely classified as provincial and had not attained its national school status.

I do not know whether the situation has changed today but in my time, students from towns were treated differently and were thought to be lacking in brawn, compared to their classmates who would in most cases spend their school holiday tending to the family shamba.

I studied agriculture in Form Two and it was a requirement that candidates grow a food crop as part of their final examinations project.

When this was announced, I became the subject of pity and many wondered who would dig and plant the shamba for me.

To date I have never known whether I got more superior seeds, whether it was the way I tilled my tiny piece of land or whether I was plain lucky.

My maize crop was the healthiest, tallest and most plants had double cobs.

I was the talk of the school and the teachers were proud of me.

That was the reason I went to a university that offered agricultural courses.

But the interesting thing is that I never took up agriculture, for life had other different things in store for me.

Still, I love all things green — plants and flowers stir an excitement in me.

Now that the rains are here, farmers have been busy planting, picking the best of seeds because they want to enjoy a bountiful harvest.

How you plant a seed, water it and tend to it determines how it will flourish.

How you go about it will almost always determine what you harvest.

As human beings, we can learn a lot from the business of planting and tending to seeds.

Every person is born with a set of seeds (qualities).

Some of these seeds are similar, while others are different.

It is up to you to choose which seed(s) to grow and that which to discard or ignore.

The seed of every power that you may crave is within you.

Power to remain positive.

Power to be great, power to be happy, power to enjoy life, power to move on after disappointment, power to forgive...

Actually, the seeds you bear are stronger than you can ever imagine: but unless you tap into them, you ought to be careful about the seeds you choose to plant.

Seeds of love, sharing, forgiveness and peace will bear fruit of the same quality.

Seeds of anger, spite, fear and hate will also bear the same.

Plant a rich garden, and water it often, and your efforts will not go to waste.

Release and let go of those bad and weak seeds.

Disard the seeds that do nothing for your success and progress — then you will have that bountiful harvest you have been craving.