This morning I came out to my office to work, and as I was walking over to my desk I looked up and saw my beloved plant, a venus fly trap.

I found it a while back and bought it because it was a symbol of patience, and I like to fill my office with symbols (see Gravity’s lesson on influence – control your environment).

But I hadn’t watered the plant, or fed it, for… well… quite some time.

I suddenly felt a sense of urgency, and rushed out to get it some water. As if somehow the next 10 seconds were crucial. (Classic example of the “all of a sudden syndrome“). As if suddenly, now aware of the situation, pouring my attention on it would somehow compensate for all my neglect.

As I sat there looking at the sad state of my symbol of patience, trying not to think of the irony of it all, my mind grasped hold of a positive lesson I could learn from this loss.

If you want to kill something, stop feeding it.

Yeah, I know, it sounds simple. But when was the last time you fed your spiritual being? When was the last time you fed your dream? When was the last time you quenched your thirst for discovery? When was the last time you fed your creativity?  When was the last time you fed the relationship with your significant other? Or your children? Or your parents?

All those things you care so much about… if you don’t feed them, they die. Don’t let that happen.

Rusty