For the past few years, I have had the amazing opportunity to work alongside a group of unique artists. Their work cannot be found inside the walls of a museum, but rather in your own yard. These artists are the people who work tirelessly to create and maintain beauty everywhere, from a residential neighborhood where one lives to the commercial building where one works at. Who are these people? Landscapers.

Landscaping is unlike many other jobs because landscapers are often times working against mother nature. The unpredictability of what is going to happen throughout a workday will often times effect the outcome of that day. This unpredictability results in much planning and strategy in order to be successful. Those who recognize the constant struggle landscapers face in daily situations understand and appreciate their work. Like almost any other job, landscaping requires training and practice. What many people do not think about are the ways in which lessons taught on the job can also be applied to real life. Below are five of the most important lessons learned during my time spent landscaping.

1. You are always being watched.

Sadly, but truly, privacy is becoming a thing of the past. People have a hard time “getting away from it all” in a world that is wirelessly - connected. The way a person presents him or herself will often times be the first impression you have of him or her. Someone who is working quickly and diligently will seem more professional than someone who slacks off and does not appear to know exactly what they are doing. Whether one is spending half an hour cutting a small lawn, or multiple days pruning and mulching a large office building, it is important to always act professional.

2. Never be discouraged.

Not every day is going to go exactly as planned. Sometimes there is a small hiccup that can easily be fixed in a matter of minutes, such as running out of gas in a machine and having to refill it. Sometimes the problem is much bigger, such as backing up a riding lawnmower into a small tree and snapping it completely in half. No matter how big the issue, eventually time will pass and the matter will be resolved. Becoming discouraged by a situation will eventually lead to fear and a loss of interest. The best thing a person can do after making a mistake is admit it, try to repair it, and move on with the knowledge that what he or she did was wrong, and work harder not to make the same mistake again.

3. Hard work really does pay off.

Imagine a house with an overgrown lawn, weeds in all of the mulch beds, and all of the plants are overgrown and half dead. Now imagine how much time will be spent cutting and treating the lawn for pests, the amount of man-hours it will take to pull and spray all of the weeds, and the skill and concentration it will take to revive and trim the once overgrown plants. At times, it might seem hopeless, but with enough hard work and dedication anything can be accomplished. After countless hours spent working in the elements, nothing is more rewarding than seeing the finished product.

4. Everything has the potential to be beautiful.

Beauty is all around. Sometimes it is covered by overgrown vines that need to be removed from a stone wall, sometimes it is masked behind what seems to be a jungle of overgrown turf and weeds, but believe it, beauty is there. Once one is able to look past an “ugly thing” and look at the potential that thing holds, one will begin to see that many things are not what they appear to be on the surface.

5. Lifelong friends can be made anywhere.

Walking into a new job on the first day can be terrifying. A new environment full of new faces can be extremely intimidating. Over time, a new place will begin to feel more and more like home, and new faces will become a welcome sight that you look forward to seeing every day. When working with the same group of people over a long period of time, a co-worker can easily become someone who seems more like a member of your family rather than a person who you just work with.