Planting a Seed

Lately, I have been finding myself doing too much and nothing at all. Being busy all day, running a home, taking care of my children, studying, writing, volunteering, and yet at the end of the day it feels like something is missing, that I haven’t really reached my fullest potential, that I don’t really know what my fullest potential is and I am constantly searching for something great to materialize.   

That’s when I decided to shift my mindset. I am not yet where I want to be — not career-wise, not spiritually, and most importantly, I have not found that inner peace we all yearn for, that Menuchat Hanefesh, that Yishuv Hadaat. However, every time I pitch an idea, every time I write an article or do an interview or speak to a friend to garner some much-needed inspiration, every shiur I listen to, and every prayer I recite, what I am essentially doing is planting a seed. Until, finally, one seed, or two, or three, will blossom into a realized potential.

We have so many ideas, passions and ever-changing and evolving goals. Whatever those goals may be, it all begins with a seed. Before we can reap the fruit of our work, we first need to plant a seed and make it grow. 

Many women I speak to are also striving for renewal, for constant improvement and self-development. We have so many ideas, passions and ever-changing and evolving goals. Whatever those goals may be — a health goal, spiritual goal, career goal, shalom bait goal, or parenting goal — it all begins with a seed. Just like anything else in life, before we can reap the fruit of our work, we first need to plant a seed and make it grow. Growth comes through faith and nothing will grow if we don’t first plant that seed and visualize it, see those goals in our life. When that seed is planted and we have good roots, everything can flourish.  

In an inspirational lecture by Orit Esther Riter — a motivational speaker, author of the “Turn Around” book series and the founder of the one-of-a-kind Or Emuna Energy program — she mentions that the word Ze ra (this is bad) and ze’ra (seed) have the same root. What we think is bad is really what Hashem is using to plant for the good to come. Every time that something looks bad, there is growth to be done. When someone is experiencing a certain situation or goes through something that seems negative, there is something positive growing out of it. In my life, there  have been several occasions when I hit rock bottom — I couldn’t imagine getting out of the Ze ra — only to come back stronger, more fruitful, more giving, with a purpose and a passion. I had to get to a place of desperation and what I thought at the time was a state of utter brokenness in order to yearn for change and growth, only to begin sowing seeds which later blossomed.  

In the Friday night blessing of eshet chayil (woman of valor), we recite, “she considers a field and buys it; from the fruit of her handiwork she plants a vineyard.”  One way a woman plants the vineyard is through her tears. The constant praying and begging are sowing the seed and giving life to the plant that we can then harvest. We plant our dreams and tend to the gardens of our souls. We also tend to our spiritual gardens by learning Torah. After all, Torah is compared to water, Torah to Jews is as vital as water is to humans, and just like we need water to sprout the seeds and nourish our gardens, we need Torah learning in our lives to fully blossom the spiritual seeds we plant daily. 

Just as unripe fruit can affect the person negatively, we cannot expect to gainfully reach our goals without first planting that seed, before we have developed the maturity and readiness for it. Everything has its time and if we try to take something before its time or push something to happen before Hashem decides we are ready, it will have more of a negative than a positive impact on us. 

So, in the meantime, while planting my seeds, and sowing my garden, I decided to enjoy the process and wait for the fruit to blossom at the right time.

Leron Zaggy MS, RD, is a Registered Dietitian who received her Master’s degree in Health and Nutrition from Brooklyn College in New York.