Dealing with “life pests”

These days I’m more relaxed about pests in the garden. I aim for balance with companion planting, cover the brassicas to deter white cabbage fly, and add a liberal application of my favourite mantra, this too shall pass.

A few weeks ago young chard leaves were munched leaving just the bare stalks. I checked for snails, scooped them up in a mug and moved them to the wild garden. That eased matters for a while. 

Then I started noticing holes on the leaves of the kale plants. I ignored them for a while hoping they’d just go away of their own accord, but the number increased.

This was not good!😡

I LOVE having lots (and lots) of green leafy vegetables throughout the winter. I love how the dark green leaves of Cavolo Nero look when touched by frost in December, standing amidst the bareness of the rest of the garden. And I love how good they are for me!

Remedial action was required.💪

I took off the netting and searched the leaves. There on their undersides were tens of tiny caterpillars.

But how could I fix this GENTLY?

I did something I’d not done before; I instinctively picked off the most infested leaves and fed them to the chickens. Happy chickens! Plus converting the issue in to chicken muck which will go on to the compost heap and lead to stronger growth in the future. Win, win!

As in the garden, so in life…

This week I started back at university. I’ve decided to make the most of it this year and embrace all opportunities. But with a step up in visibility and growth can come a step up in negative mind chatter.

‘Who do you think you are? Someone else has already written about that. You should have done that when you had the idea. You’ll never be good enough. Blah, blah, blah!’

Sound familiar? 

I call these life pests. They include, 

Comparisonitis. Someone tells you about something great they’ve done and you auto-translate it as more evidence that you’re not good enough.

Perfectionism. You don’t even start a creative project because you won’t do it well enough. Or you find it hard to complete one – an early, absorbed script playing in the background. Mine is, “If something’s worth doing it’s worth doing well.”

Procrastination. You don’t start something in case you change your mind. “What if it’s not the right choice?” Whatever that is!

And don’t even get me started on “shoulds”!

Remedial action

Sometimes acknowledging these “pests” and reminding ourselves that this too shall pass is enough. We start each Coaching Circle with a commitment to gently notice them – a simple, yet profoundly powerful, practice.

Other times they need a bit more attention. If you have undertaken therapy you’ll know that looking at your “life pests” can be rich source material to help you feel happier and freer to be yourself. Kind of like feeding them to the chickens…

So next time you find yourself in the middle of an infestation of “life pests”, 

What gentle approach could you adopt to help get your growth back?🤔

Let’s flourish together!

Arlene x