Watering Trees and the Belch

Growing up I had the opportunity to help with a Church orchard. If I recall correctly I picked apples, peaches and cherries. Every time I picked one of those lovely fruits it had three possibilities. I would gently put it in the basket I had on me or close to me. I would eat one, which I had to be sneaky about. The last was the funnest for me though and that was to throw it at one of my siblings that was close by. I found that taking a bite and throwing it was just as rewarding. I would love to say that most of the picked items made it into the basket. I would also like to say that I have a private jet and own the Seattle Seahawks. As I got older the greater the responsibilities came with the orchard. There was the task of having all the trees watered. Now, this was not done by me just holding a hose and watering each tree. The water for the orchard came from an irrigation ditch. Irrigation ditches have all sorts of levels of joy with them. The first is the schedule. The schedule isn't a 9a to 5p situation. It runs 24/7. So, the orchard always seemed to be scheduled for 2am when I did it. Another level of joy was figuring out when to shut the plethora of metal gates so all the trees got watered and you didn't flood the neighboring homes. The first metal gate you shut would be the main one that shoots the water down a ditch in the orchard. From this ditch you can open / close metal gates to water the different rows of trees. Knowing when to close the ditch to a row of trees was always the struggle. If you wait to see the water hit the last tree there is still tons of water that will be coming down the row. If you guess to close the gate too early the last couple of trees don't get watered ... and of course doing this in the dark. The real joy came though when you and your friend would be sitting in church and you would be thanked for a great job AND no water escaped the orchard and flooded any homes. Only once in my many irrigation tasks did I hear about water bonding with homes ... not so much joy.

One of the consistent messages I have been given from my psychologist over our three year bonding time has been "listen to your body." Of course, I have had fun with this telling my sweet wife that my body was telling me I needed a Coke or even better I needed a kiss. There is great importance though of this message. Just like an athlete that has hurt a knee or ankle or pick your injury, they have to pay attention to what their knee may be telling them. If they keep pushing it they can actually do more harm than good. No matter how badly the athlete wants that knee to be healed he has to be patient. The nice thing for him is that people understand his injury offering support and patience as well. I personally enjoy keeping busy and have a hard time sitting still. Having my brain tell me that I need to slow down or stop for a while is something I don't enjoy. Too many times I have just kept pushing and pushing and yep, I have paid for it. I have learned that if your brain needs a break and you don't give it one it will take one on it's own. So, what does it mean to listen to your body? My first thought was a belch of some sort and of course as I asked my little guy what he thought he confirmed my thinking. For me, I have learned that when I have a hard time keeping focused, being very impatient than usual, losing control of my thoughts, becoming extreme introvert and on the verge of tears for no reason ... to name a few,  I know that I need to pause. I might be done for the day or maybe feel okay in an hour but listening is crucial to my getting better. For a person that enjoys doing projects, organizing "stuff" and constantly keeping busy this has been extremely frustrating for me. I am learning that being good friends with patience is something that will be of great help to me. I wake up and start the day not knowing what I will be able to do that day. I know what I want to do. The struggle is knowing what is too much since it can vary day to day. But if I am careless and keep pushing on I potentially can "flood the houses" and the many steps forward I may have taken I take several steps back. I wish that I was listening for the belch but having patience lets me grow and I am finding hope with this.