Since making and tending personal change is more than often both difficult and important, I seem to come back to the garden. What better metaphors are there than plants and seasons? (Well, maybe roads.) Perhaps it’s because growing things mirrors the natural ebb and flow of the natural world. When chives bloom, the buds are hard and tight. They look like they’re about to bust open. When we practice new health behaviors, feeling like one is making progress, and seeing results is often challenging, at best. However, if we can make incremental steps, be as patient with ourselves as possible, celebrate each discovery, and watch things unfold, we may learn that change is indeed possible. Especially if we really, really want it, believe it’s possible, and know why it’s important to us. Most of us realize something different along the weeding and watering process than what we originally planted. We make adjustments along the way, amend the soil, put in a little more compost, add companion plants. We may even notice that what we have is a harvest after all. So little is linear and fixed in this world!