It has been raining since past several months now ,a result of climatic change that has not only brought early monsoons but an influx of heavy rains on a continuous basis. On account of these non stop rainfall, I made myself, confine to the most interior part of the house , where I could feel some warmth and seek respite from the moist and damp weather .

Rainy season is seldom disliked , but in my case it’s slightly different , the constant pitter patter does not excite me nor the winds and the rain.

So when after several weeks of constant rainfall, when I finally saw sunshine beaming through my bedroom window, it was a sight of huge respite , I felt the rays of Sun, as rays of hope ,which one may feel after exhausting all options available .

I ventured out to soak in the sunshine ,and while strolling around when I reached the backyard of my house I found this entangled plants ,in which a wild shrub has enveloped the entire jasmine/mogra plant and the bougainvillea , making it a complicated triangle, something very similar, often found in messed up relationships.

An hour work, actually took me 3 hours to complete , because the wild shrub has so beautifully engulfed the entire plant , that it required at my end ,to pull up my sleeves, pause, breathe and carefully examine the difference.

The point of origin to the point it had laid its grip, a wrong cut could have resulted in chopping off the mild jasmine climber and the bougainvillea’s main stem.

So, I worked like a surgeon ,lost in a complicated surgery , carefully examining each and every point including the wild shrub which I did not wanted to uproot and destroy, after a long stretch of labor, finally I ended up giving enough space to each , for the wild shrub to grow but beyond the tender jasmine climber and the adjacent “Tulsi”(Basil) plant which is growing fast in the next immediate pots.

By now the Sun had enough of my back and me enough of Sun’s warmth which was now turned into a discomfort , I sat down with my cup of tea ,enjoying the mild wind and reflected some excellent lessons, nature had just shared with me generously through this experience.

Make a note ;

• Reflect and Learn ; If we deeply reflect, nature has a lot to offer in form of learnings
• Some other time ; often times, when we push our problems thinking for the time being let me not focus on it , it can hide the issue but not solve it (in this case ,If I had not avoided the pruning of plants for months , they wouldn’t have resulted in my 3 hour adventure )
• Hidden Underneath; Problems beneath the hidden realm, often comes back again and again and with more complexities (in this case, the wild shrub, due to the negligence, had entangled almost three other plants ,making it a mess of all)
• Delaying issues A problem due to ongoing delay, may further attract lot of complexities ,therefore addressing issues then and there ,may be a right approach to reduce the severity (in this case the wild shrub if had been attended to as a tender plant would not have resulted in the huge entangled mess )
• Seek help when needed Not all problems can be solved with one single entity, at times one may need a helping hand in form of a Coach, mentor or a neutral third party helping you get that perspective or simply become more aware .(In this case , a mere plucking of climber didn’t help, it required a collective effort of few gardening tools , a simple plan and a lot of observation to ensure things worked out as planned)

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

Albert Einstein

(c)Mehnaz Amjad 2022

About the Author: Mehnaz Amjad is a Coach, & a CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapist), Founder of Guide & Advice which offers Coaching to both individuals and organizations. You can Connect with me.