Il faut cultiver son jardin

Indeed, we all must work in our garden. To me, this has several meanings:

1. Life's reward comes with hard work, dedication, and persistence; there is no short cut to success. It might be nice or advantageous to be smart or good-looking, but they are poor substitutes for real, authentic labor.

2. It is "our" garden we need to work in, not others. What other people do or don't do with their gardens are not our primary concern; our garden is. Focus on that and everything else will take care themselves.

3. There are many people in this world who want to sell you "gardening tools" - how to speak well, how to network, how to be social, etc., etc.. Or better yet, Life Coaching. Although these techniques do have value, they pale in comparison to the work that we MUST do internally, if what we desire is true, long-lasting happiness.

It is we who must work on our garden.