By Jennifer Jester-Madrigal

One of the chores I hated the most when I was a kid was pulling weeds.

We had a large slope behind the pool and my mom would have us help her pull weeds when they got out of hand. Of course, I’d be in a hurry and try to just rip the tops off so I could finish as fast as possible and move on, and my mom, of course, would tell me to slow down and make sure I “got the root”. She’d always point out that if you didn’t get it at the root then it would just grow back right away.

Most individuals who suffer from addiction, depression, anxiety, etc., will eventually get to the point where they will have to look the cause of their issues in the face and see what it is that brought them down the path. It could have been a failed relationship with a parent, abuse, or maybe even a traumatic event that was never dealt with.

Whatever the “root” is, it eventually must be dealt with because these things have a way of continuing to come to the surface until they are finally handled.

Years later – and probably because I am a writer and somehow always manage to find the “deep meaning” of simple sayings – this phrase has a deeper significance to me. I now apply this to my own life and try to remember when times get tough, that in order to make progress, I have to make sure that I attack the issue at the root.

I’ve learned that if you don’t take the time to really find the root cause of the issue, then all your surface work will do very little to actually solve the problem.

Face your issues, your demons, and your insecurities head-on, and do something about them. Talk to someone, get help, get out, make a plan, or whatever it takes to finally attack that root and move toward fixing whatever is keeping you from being the best version of yourself.