The Seeds of Today

We have had a lot of rain this summer, especially up at our Cabin in the western North Carolina Mountains. While it does curtail our hikes and canoe trips, (and makes things a damp all in all), it has lead to some much needed family time. We have cooked more meals, played more games, and watched more movies than normal this summer; certainly nothing to complain about!

Well over a recent weekend, I was struck by the “sampler” (pictured here) that was sewn by my grandmother (yes, MaMa) many years ago. We had hung it up at the cabin, alongside a quilt that she had sewn, as a fitting reminder of her legacy in our lives and of her wonderful art! For some reason on a drippy Saturday morning I was struck not by the stitching or the overall design, but by the text featured on the samples…” All of the flowers of all of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.” I had grown up around this piece of Mama’s needlework but I had never really focused on the words, or their meaning to me at that moment.

We have just finished our first year after the sale of Bolthouse Farms to The Campbell Soup Company, and we have been wrapping up our plans for our upcoming fiscal year this summer. I have been so proud of the four years (hard to believe it’s already four years!!!) that I have been associated with Bolthouse Farms. We have accomplished a lot as an organization and are poised well for the opportunities and challenges in the future. With that said, as we look at the fiscal year ahead we have a lot to DO to turn all of our plans in market centered realities.

I have been struck through my career on the overall need to take action and be focused on superior execution, rather than superior intentions! This idea is not just a concept of our times, but has deep historic resonance. The prominent German writer, Goethe, is famous quoted as writing that:


Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!”


This notion of diving in, taking action on “what you can do, or DREAM you can do” is such a powerful idea. We are often slowed by our own uncertainties or insecurities. Is our idea really any good? Well maybe we need to do more research? The list of self-doubting questions goes on and on. Goethe is challenging us to not only act on what we can do today, but to take action on what we just might be able to do tomorrow!

As I look at MaMa’s sampler, I am reminded that she and Goethe (and many others of course) are all saying one thing. Take action and take action now on what you think you can do or maybe dream that you can do! Don’t wait for something else to happen or someone else to make the first move. Take action now! We all want to enjoy “all the flowers of all the tomorrows” in our personal and professional lives. Mama (and Goethe) is calling us to focus on getting busy planting “the seeds of today!”