Do You Need Repotting?

I recently repotted two house plants in my home after weeks of procrastination. Now, I’ve never been the house plant type of girl. In fact, if my husband knew I was writing this entry he’d be laughing because I am the original Mother Blight. I can kill a silk plant. With managing a busy career, throw in business travel and a new baby, house plants tend to fall to the bottom of my priority list.  My poor plants – they clearly had a will to live because even after several months of neglect, they somehow managed to hang on for dear life. The palm’s fronds were threadbare and brown at the edges, while the philodendron had shed all but three of her leaves, which were withered and drooping. I was finally shamed into repotting one weekend after a friend came over and helpfully suggested that maybe I should start fresh with some new plants and just throw these out into the woods in the back yard. They were just enough alive that I felt bad about giving up on them when they clearly hadn’t given up on me.  I trudged off to my local Home Depot and bought a huge bag of Miracle Grow potting soil and two big pots.  That weekend I put the plants in their respective new homes. They seemed to respond almost instantly to their new roomier environment. I imagined those tangled roots that were once so scrunched at the bottom of their old home were slowly starting to unfurl and stretch down into the dark rich soil soaking up all of the nutrients. I could almost hear them sighing, “Ahhhh! That’s so much better!” In just a few short weeks, the plants’ leaves took on a glossy sheen and new shoots appeared. Nearly six weeks later, the palm has sprouted one bright green frond and two new shoots. The philodendron has sprouted a remarkable eight new leaves and I can see a few new shoots on her as well.  I feel a bit guilty because had I repotted my plants weeks ago as I had intended, they would be so much bigger and healthier. Hindsight is twenty/twenty.

Repotting my plants got me started thinking about change and how sometimes we need new environments to thrive and grow. It’s easy to lose sight that maybe our old surroundings – the ones that were once such a perfect fit – may now be keeping us from reaching our highest potential. We keep trying to scrunch ourselves into our old pot to make ourselves fit, when really we’ve just out grown it. Maybe you’re stagnating in your job or outgrowing a relationship. It may be as simple as needing to switch up your daily routine or challenge yourself to learn something new to get out of your comfort zone. The New Year is just around the corner and I’m thinking about what I need to do in 2011 to keep growing and thriving. Do you need repotting?