Eradicate bad habits by developing good ones

Eradicate bad habits by developing good ones                            200108

Weeds are every serious farmer’s concern and problem. They reduce yields and threaten the livelihoods of multitudes and the business of many agro-based economies. There is need to control the weeds if the cultivated crops are to produce considerable yields.

A weed by definition is a plant that grows where it is not wanted. Weeds vary in shape and size. They are different from the cultivated crops in a number of critical ways. They grow faster than crops in general and will mature in a much shorter time. It takes an average maize plant five months to mature. In this long time we will be able to get seeds for the next generation. A black jack weed will mature in a few weeks. Before long the sticky seeds are ready to produce the next generation of the notorious weed.

In general weeds thrive by feeding on the nutrients meant for the crops. They do that in many different ways. Some broad leafed weeds grow quickly and overshadow the crops. This prevents light from the sun to reach the crops thereby weakening them, making it difficult for the crops to survive the competition. As long as these weeds are thriving the crops will not survive. The broad leaves capture more light and therefore more energy for the weeds. This type of weeds is quick growing so that they grow taller than the crops as fast as possible enabling themselves to cover the crops in the process.

The other type takes time to establish itself in the ground before becoming visible above the ground. The weeds show only enough leaves above the ground to get energy from the sun. These weeds are not very visible and can be easily ignored. They use their system of well established roots to absorb as much nutrients as possible from the ground. Crops are deprived of the nutrients and are weakened in the process. To get rid of this type of weeds there is a lot of digging that needs to be done unlike with the big weeds that can be easily removed by uprooting.

The other difference between weeds and crops is that weeds produce many more seeds as compared to the crops usually grown. This means that for every crop plant in the field you may find over a hundred weeds. This means that these weeds will use up more nutrients than the farmer anticipates with his crops. This is because the weeds, realising that they are endangered in the sense that they are removed by the farmer at the earliest possible time, will have to produce enough seeds to minimise the chance of complete eradication.

If one wants to completely rid a place of weeds they will have to work hard to remove them before they produce seed because if they do then the next season there will surely be another crop of weeds. It takes more energy than the mere control of weeds that happens in an average farm where crops are grown.

Habits are like plants in more respects than one. For one thing they grow and develop in us as good crops and weeds do in our fields. The desired habits take time to grow and produce the desired results. It seems they take forever to produce fruits and those that embark on some worthwhile habits end up stopping pursuing them because it takes too long to enjoy the fruits of the habits. On the other hand, bad habits exhibit the characteristics of weeds. They are fast growing with the sole aim of destroying the good that is in us.

Bad habits by growing quickly tend to overshadow the good ones that we have. We end up using the precious energy that we have to attend to the bad habits at the expense of the good ones. The bad habits are naturally many in number such that we end up, though using very little energy on each habit and probably thinking that it does not have an effect, in reality wasting energy on these habits and leaving hardly any energy for the more beneficial pursuits.

The most dangerous of the habits are those that are not visible but drain energy all the same. There are perpetual complainers and grumblers who make criticizing a hobby to the extent that they do not realise that every time they look at a situation and concentrate on the negative side of it they end up tired and unable to do any thing else. Most of the depressions that many of us go through could be reduced if only we spent our energy concentrating on things that we can change and working to change them instead of worrying about what we can not change. This however takes a lot of courage to tackle and just like in the deep going weeds a lot of digging is needed, making sure that the habit is removed from the roots.

Just briefly revisiting the issue of resolutions that we touched on earlier on, a closer look will tell many of us that there is little that is happening in the beneficial habits that we wanted to adopt this year. The main reason why some of these worthy causes are going to adorn the shelves for the whole year and only be revisited at the end of the year and be dusted, looked at and shelved again is the issue of time. There is very little time left to carry out the intended goals. On the other hand it is interesting to note that those habits that we vowed will never be part of our lives again this year have been revisited at least ten times in these two weeks. Time is not available to begin new habits but is available to reinforce the ones that we want to get rid of.

If we are going to win the war against bad habits we have to persevere, there is no other way. Weeds will grow faster than crops by nature. First of all grow enough crops to make the piece of land worth weeding. A plot left to itself will grow weeds and no one will bother himself about clearing it but a plot of land with some cotton or maize will surely be weeded. As you look at your life what is it that is there that is worth fighting to preserve? Are there any good habits that you will see reason enough to weed out the bad ones?