More Than WE Know

 I’m an impatient gardener.  I like to buy plants already in bloom, put them in the ground, or even in pots,  and get immediate rewards. I feel quite a sense of accomplishment even though I have actually done very little work. But blooming plants like that are usually annuals; they arrive quickly with a lot of color and show and then disappear just as quickly when the season is over.  Perennials on the other hand, take longer to cultivate and are slower to bloom- but they stay with me season after season.

I try to balance my garden with both annuals and perennials. Both have their purposes and both are needed for vibrant surroundings. Some quick efforts for solace now, to perhaps be forgotten when the season ends, and some to be cultivated slowly over time with bigger and more colorful blooms returning year after year. 

I was thinking about all of this today as I planted bulbs: tulips, crocuses, daffodils and hyacinths.  It takes a lot of faith to plant bulbs.  There is an entire fall and winter between when you plant the bulbs and when you see the results.  It is only when the winter has become unbearably long and bleak and you are just about ready to give up - that the first green shoots make their appearance.

It helps me to think of my networking efforts like gardening. Some of my efforts result in quick returns. I meet someone, we hit it off, we decide to do a project together, and it is fun and invigorating. But sometimes afterward, life gets in the way, the intensity fades and we drift apart. 

At other times, it feels like my efforts are never going to pay off. Perhaps I am not meeting people interested in my business or what I have to say.  It begins to feel hopeless and that I should give up.  And then, someone reaches out and connects - someone I haven’t heard from in a while, or someone who heard about me from a friend, or someone who found me through my writing on the Internet.  And suddenly, all that effort and waiting pays off! 

In reality, either type of connection can lead to long-term relationships. There is a season and a rhythm to networking that we can sense if we take time to slow down and feel it. We just need to keep putting ourselves out there, digging and turning, cultivating our networking garden - being thankful for the quick blooms and having faith in the seasons.

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