I walk metformin side effects acne around my garden eyeing the rows of vegetables carefully. I try to remember the spacing recommended on the seed packages, and also imagine in my mind the adult plants, and then I take some out.

It can be a painful process at times. It just doesn’t seem right to take out seedlings, especially when they are looking healthy and strong. Sometimes because of spacing needs, I have to leave one that doesn’t look so good, and take out one that does.

Despite the somewhat unpleasant nature of this task, I perform it faithfully because I know it is critical to taking in a good harvest.

Each plant needs its space, and if the plants are cramped none of them will grow properly.

My son has his own squash plot, and I decided he better be the one to do the thinning.

“You have two squash plants growing here, but the space can only support one. Which one do you think you should keep?”

With hesitation similar to what I often face, and a little sigh, he pulled out the smaller plant.

When I’m gardening, I find that I am often led to meditate on topics relevant to life in general.

Some years ago, when I was thinning, for example, I suddenly became convinced that two kids was the number for me.

Nowadays when thinning, I think about how many choices and options there are in life. I think I’ve often felt instinctively that I needed to try to grasp at those options. I needed to try to read all the books, attend all the events and reach all my goals. I couldn’t say “no” easily either to others or to myself.

Yet when I thin I get the hint that maybe the true way to be successful in life is not so much the ability to go after possibilities, but the ability to narrow possibilities down.

This is true on so many levels of life. We probably all have known the boy or girl who has many romantic interests, but can’t focus on any one of them. This person often has trouble developing a stable relationship and family life.

There are others who have large numbers of friends, but no close friends. Some flit from career to career, and are never able to put down strong roots in any field.

Businesspeople who don’t narrow down their business plan are often forced to close their doors.

The same principle relates to less important decisions. It’s hard to have a fun and meaningful vacation if we can’t turn down any of the attractions in a given area. It’s hard to know how to spend the day on housework or garden work, unless we take the time to prioritize tasks.

A person who has too many hobbies may never find satisfaction in any of them, and a person with too many volunteer commitments will be overwhelmed and unable to contribute deeply to any of them.

Of course, what we are able to take on varies from person to person, but each person needs to find his or her own balance in life, his or her own point where each of his ventures and relationships, each of the plants of life, is able to thrive.