I have (reluctantly) been doing yard work.  There is one section that is overgrown with ivy (English, not poison) and has been overgrown with for so long now that I am uncertain if there ever was a yard there. (I have a faint memory of a yard.)   I have learned this; if you do not trim ivy, it grows profusely.  The talons on the leaves and vine wind their way up trees, over fallen logs (I think it was a fallen log), through the fence and beyond (into the neighbor’s yard).  In other words, left to its own, ivy pretty much takes over.  It takes concerted effort for me to get into the jumbled mass of green and pull or cut it back.

Where is the ivy in your life?  We all have areas left unattended that quickly become overgrown and have the potential to choke out life.  Awareness that the ivy exists and has the potential to bring harm may be the first step.   The small negativities in a relationship left unchecked can become areas of conflict and tension for relationships very quickly.  Put on the gardening gloves. Be relentless in pulling the vines.

Marlayne Whitlock

mwhitlock@ GROWcounseling.com