One of our earliest Motivating Moments, those pearls of wisdom we release into social media every Monday, is still one of the most popular – The grass is always greener where you water it.
Ask most anybody to complete the sentence, “The grass is always greener…” they will answer with “on the other side of the fence.” But it does have to be there? Can’t it be on our side?
Putting the green grass on the other side is the opposite of motivation. It is a handy excuse for anything that goes wrong, a reason to not even try. Hear the excuses…why try, I’ll never be as good as he is…why try, we’ll never be as happy as they are….why try, my children will never be as good as theirs are. Their job is better, their house is bigger, their car is faster, their grass is greener. Nobody asks why their grass is so green.
As we wrote in an earlier blog post, greatness does not just happen. You have to cultivate it. Greatness is like growing a garden. There are some resources you cannot control like sun and temperature, some you can help along like improving the soil, and others that are your responsibilities like how much water to give. Motivation also doesn’t just happen. There are resources you can’t control like how others will respond to you. There are some that you can help along like by learning as much as you can before taking on a project or planning an activity. And there are the ones where you are in control, like how much energy you are willing to devote to that plan. That is the water. And it’s the water that makes the grass green.
The water is the motivation, the grass is the reality. It’s the motivation that makes the plan a reality. Pour enough water on to the grass and it turns really green. Put enough motivation into a plan, and you can accomplish almost anything. Whether it is planning a million dollar renovation or a weekend getaway with the family, the good things happen when you put your best effort into getting it right, when you are excited and energized at the possibility of how you will feel when it is accomplished.
The grass is only greener on the other side of the fence when somebody over there is watering it. You have the same grass on your side. Don’t be trapped into believing yours can’t be just as green. Greener even! The grass is always greener where you water it. Let your motivation flow like water!
