Just a Little Water

I’ve got a friend who gives me a plant every December. Nothing huge, mind you, but something that gives my office a little color for the next months. Otherwise, my wall décor would pretty much be a combination of windows, whiteboard space, and pictures of me with my PB (personal best) fish from a lifetime of adventures.

The plant just shows up. But don’t misunderstand—I really like having live plants and such in my office—I just don’t think much about it until after the fact.

This year, the plant came as expected, but it came in a cracked glass vase. The thing couldn’t hold water, so my assistant, Celeste, took it home, transplanted it into another vase, and brought it back to the office. Problem solved.

That is, until a few weeks later, when we were both out of the office for the holidays.

The plant went without water for three weeks. (Don’t judge me.) When we returned to the office, it wasn’t quite like the picture below, but it was close.

So, what did we do? Just about the only thing we knew to do. We gave it a little water and moved on with our day.

The next morning, it was back.

The plant’s stems were upright. The green was at least two shades darker. The leaves didn’t look like they’d break off if I accidentally brushed against them.

And all it took was a little water.

It got me thinking about how little things can make a huge difference. The things that sustain us in life and work are often pretty small. We don’t necessarily need a ton of it all the time, but it’s a famine when we go without for long.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said, “The soul is healed by being with children.” Thomas Carlyle said, “Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together.” These are two men who have identified things they need to flourish.

Time with kids, silence—these things are available, yet we easily neglect them as life gets busy, and the to-do list runs long.

What about you? What is your water? Maybe it’s:

• A conversation with a good friend.
• A walk by yourself.
• A whiteboard session.
• A trip to a new place.
• Cooking and enjoying a new meal.
• A good night’s sleep (or several in a row).
• A workout.
• A strategy session with a business mentor.

Perhaps you’ve heard of The Five Love Languages: quality time, words of affirmation, physical touch, gifts, acts of service—categories of ways people show love to each other and need love shown to them. The author, Gary Chapman, asks, “What are the things in a relationship that you want to drink deeply of?” It’s the same idea.

The same principle applies at work. There are things that, quite simply, keep you going.

Are you dragging like a wilting plant today? In this season of life and work? Give yourself a little water. Today—this week—and build up a rhythm going forward.

Don’t turn this into a simple self-help article. Look around you, as well. What kind of water do the people in your family, friendships, and workplace need? How can you give it to them regularly?

The newspaper columnist George M. Adams once said, “Encouragement is the oxygen of the soul.” Just substitute water for oxygen, and you’ve got the idea of where to start.

My plant has weeks where it’s doing well, and weeks where it’s not. (You can also over-water, which might be an article for another day.) But when it’s starting to wilt, I know the solution, and it’s not that complicated. It just needs a little water.