We talk a lot about planning for your future. Let's talk about planting for your future.

I write a lot about planning for the future, but as I was finishing up my terrace pot garden, I thought it takes a lot of faith to plant a garden.

It occurred to me that there is a correlation between planning for the future and planting for the future.

Every year, I invest substantial money in flowers for our terrace. However, it is a minimal investment compared to the gardens of years past. At one time, I planted vegetable gardens, and I tended many perennial flower beds. But today, all my efforts go to a dozen planters full of colorful annuals.

Flowers are just a necessary part of life as far as I’m concerned.

But it is undoubtedly an act of faith. I plant flowers with no guarantee that they will flourish. As a matter of fact, there’s a good chance that the wind, hail or scorching sun will take their toll. That does not keep me from planting. By necessity, farmers, gardeners and other gamblers are optimistic about the future.

Are you optimistic about the future of your aging process? Like the faith it takes to plant a flower, we plan for a healthy and productive life, regardless of age.

I have this ritual started years ago that emboldens my gardening. I prepare the pot, the soil and the fertilizer and buy the plants that suit the environment both sun and shade. Then, when I dig the hole and place the plant, I tenderly press it into the rich environment and say, “God make it grow.”

After doing everything I can to get the conditions right, I believe, by faith, that the seedling will produce what it is intended to yield. Hibiscus produces hibiscus blooms; begonia plants produce begonias, everything in its own kind.

I’ve done all the preparations I can, and the rest is up to the invisible life force that is in the plant.

Isn’t it like us? We do what we can to flourish. We eat right, exercise and spend time with family and friends. We engage in lifelong learning and new hobbies to stimulate our minds. We are in the business of planting the seeds for our future.

We’ve got blooming years ahead, and it takes great optimism to plant for the future.

Comments like, “What’s the use?” or “I’m too old for that” are not planting for the future. Those thoughts are like dropping a seedling on the sidewalk and expecting flowers to pop up.

Audrey Hepburn said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

To continually plant good seeds in your life is to believe in many tomorrows.

Find Connie's book, "Daily Cures: Wisdom for Healthy Aging," at www.justnowoldenough.com.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: We talk about planning for the future. Let's talk about planting, too.