Dandelions in your Garden

Today's personal leadership excercise.

Abby Miller

6/28/20241 min read

white dandelion in close up photography
white dandelion in close up photography

A few months ago, I attended an absolutely amazing retreat (which should hold some credibility given my job title). Liz and Laura from BRAVE conversations taught us about psychology, our actions and reactions, emotions, leadership, teamwork, and oh so much more. An exercise that I will never forget included a meditation on our garden. In short, we listed plants we would like to grow, and also the weeds that are taking our time, energy, and resources from those plants.

Some weeds can be pulled, some weeds can only be pruned, some are there to stay, but the others? Those are dandelions.

If a weed is a dandelion, that means it sprouted, grew, and in time, turned into that little puffball, signaling its death.

In life, this happens all the time. Losing an important volleyball game, ending a relationship, failing a test, hurting a close friend, and the list could go on. These things, have a life cycle. They pop up, they grew, and in time, they’ll die. The thing about dandelions though, is that we LOVE to blow them. And in case you didn’t know, those puff balls we think carry our wishes are actually seeds for more dandelions.

Where recently have you blown your dead dandelion? Are you about to do it right now?