We live in a world that is gov­erned by nat­ur­al laws, just like gravity–what goes up must come down.  In agri­cul­ture, we can eas­i­ly see and agree that the nat­ur­al laws and prin­ci­ples gov­ern the work and deter­mine the har­vest (Cov­ey, 1994).

It’s very sim­ple: we reap what we sow.  If you sow gen­er­ous­ly, you will reap gen­er­ous­ly.  If you sow spar­ing­ly, you will reap spar­ing­ly.

The Law of the Farm gov­erns in all are­nas of life.  Think of your rela­tion­ships, your finances, your career, your health and your char­ac­ter.  “Can you ‘cram’ and sud­den­ly become a per­son of integri­ty, courage or com­pas­sion (Cov­ey, 1994, p. 55)?”

What about peo­ple who go for the quick-fix­es, “lose 20 pounds in 30 days”?  They may suc­ceed in the short run, but most gain all the weight back and some­times more.  Why?  Because they tried to defy the nat­ur­al laws.  Good health and vital­i­ty are based on nat­ur­al prin­ci­ples.

“Nature is even­ly bal­anced.  We can­not dis­turb her equi­lib­ri­um, for we know that the law of Cause and Effect is the unerr­ing and inex­orable law of nature; but we do fail to find our own equi­lib­ri­um as nations and as indi­vid­u­als, because we have not yet learned that the same law works as inex­orably in human life and in soci­ety as in nature — that what we sow, we must inevitably reap.” — Dr. Sid­ney Bre­mer

Many peo­ple sow one thing and expect to reap some­thing entire­ly dif­fer­ent.  If a farmer sowed toma­to seeds, she should­n’t expect to reap oranges.  She is going to reap toma­toes, and that’s only if she’s put in the work.

The for­mu­la for a good har­vest (in every area of life) is good seeds, good fer­tile soil and ded­i­cat­ed time.  In under­grad I can’t remem­ber ever real­ly study­ing; I got through school, but I did­n’t excel aca­d­e­m­i­cal­ly.  “I got the degree, but not the edu­ca­tion.”  In grad­u­ate school, how­ev­er, by this time, I had learned through tri­al and error that there are nat­ur­al laws you can’t defy.  We can be charm­ing and manip­u­la­tive for a short while, but long-term, the law of the farm will pre­vail.  Guar­an­teed.

What are some areas in your life where you know you have to plant the seeds and invest the time in order to reap a fruit­ful har­vest?  You want to get out of debt, but you also want those new design­er shoes you don’t need and can’t afford?  You want to be fit and healthy, but you don’t want to change your eat­ing habits or exer­cise?  How long have you had your gym mem­ber­ship?  How many times have you been to the gym this year?  Make sure your actions are aligned with your prin­ci­ples.

There is sig­nif­i­cant ben­e­fit to be gained by look­ing at recur­ring themes in your life.  Think long and hard about the price you’re will­ing to pay because there’s always a price to pay.  You can only choose when you’ll pay.  You can play now and pay lat­er, or pay now and play lat­er, but you will pay.

You can pay in your younger years by putting mon­ey aside, gain­ing the skills you need for your dream career, and reap the ben­e­fits in your lat­er years.  Or you can be like many Amer­i­cans and “enjoy” your younger years, make lousy choic­es, spend the mon­ey, incur mas­sive debt and pay the price in your senior years.

In your hands is the pow­er to choose.