Many of you have known me as a gardener. Growing up on a farm in Kansas, it was just natural for me to grow something. But this year I didn’t grow a garden, I let it go dormant. In fact, I had let the weeds defeat me. I didn’t want to deal with them anymore, so I let it go.

Did I miss it? Not really…until this morning for some reason. It’s not a big feeling about it or even feeling like I let others down who looked to me for gardening inspiration. But I saw new life out there this past weekend.

I haven’t touched the garden since the spring when I put up all the hoses, cleaned up the garden and mowed down the weeds. I would see it every day but it had no interest for me. I had let it go.

But now there’s new life out there.

Onions!

5 little onion sprouts have made their way through the soil and are reaching upward with their new growth.

I was surprised…whatever onions I had missed last year have spent nearly a year lying dormant in the soil until they received enough moisture to begin growing. Last week I got over an inch of rain and the garden soil has softened up.

When I saw them I was excited to see the new growth and encouraged that something was growing out there. I can already taste them!

Then it reminded me how we all have potential for new growth lying dormant in our lives. Maybe it’s a new business you want to start or a new career you’ve always been interested in. Maybe you want to write a book or go to another country to help those who struggle to just survive every day.

What’s laying dormant in your life? What desires have you put away or just given up on? You know the ones I’m talking about, they occasionally pop back to the surface of your mind.

Here are three ways you can begin to cultivate those ideas and desires that you thought you had put away, but seem to always try and sprout to life.

3 ways to cultivate your dormant ideas

Let it grow

Sometimes it’s best to stop fighting it or trying to starve your idea and just let it grow. Release it from the shadows of your mind, give it some light and let it grow. You’ll never what the full potential of your idea is until you let it grow.

Feed it a little

Maybe you’re not ready to put all your effort into it yet. That’s okay. Since you’re letting it grow to see what it can produce, give it a little attention. Weekly reading, research, conversations with others or planning will help your idea grow a little bigger. A little tending every day or every week will yield big results.

Clear out the weeds

Weeds are always there in my garden, and their always there in my mind. Anytime I want to work on a new project (or this blog post) there are a whole host of other things that pop up to clutter my mind or distract me. Start recognizing these as weeds. Weeds are hard to recognize when they are small. Sometimes you need to let them grow a bit see what they really are. Ideas come and go in your mind all the time, but some are just weeds that need to be cleared out. Get rid of them.

Tending to new growth is exciting and sometimes hard. New growth is a new opportunity or a new chance at that idea or desire you thought you had done away with. If it wants to grow, it’s probably meant to grow.

It’s your job to tend to it and give it life.

For more encouragement and support in your journey to success in your life, join others like you in my Facebook Group or like my personal Facebook page.