The Art of Grasping Nettles

A blog on courage, preparation and giving it a go by Jane Binnion

When I bottled my first brew of nettle cordial years ago, it was an experiment. I’ve been making nettle soup for many years because it’s highly nutritious and I just love free food, but this was a first for me and I had no idea how it would turn out.

Sometimes we have to do that though, right? We just have to have a go and see how it turns out even if we know we might get stung in the process. However, we can do things to minimise the pain too.

Courage yields results

Of course, nettles hurt. I fell into a ditch of nettles several years ago while cycling in rural China. It’s pretty nasty and hurts for a long time afterwards too. I still get stung when I’m picking nettles for soup, but I seem to have decided that it’s worth it.

But it got me thinking about the expression grasping nettles and what that means for those of us running a business or charity. It’s an expression that’s very meaningful to all of us. We know exactly what it would feel like to grasp nettles. So why on earth would we deliberately do it?

Well, there are a few reasons. If we don’t, they keep on growing anyway, but also look at what happens when we do pluck up the courage to grasp them. We may get stung but the results are great. When I eat this delicious soup or drink the cordial I can remember the stings, but I still feel really delighted with the results.

We can prepare ourselves for nettle grasping. It isn’t necessary to just rush in. Taking time to get organised can make it all a lot less painful. Nettle grasping is not an opportunistic task. If I was walking past a great crop wearing shorts, sandals and a T-shirt, I know that diving in would end horribly. When grasping real nettles I wear gloves, long sleeves and take scissors.

What are the nettles in your business or organisation that you need to grasp?

• What is it that scares you about doing it?
• What can you do to minimise the pain?
• What will be the positive benefits of finally grasping those nettles?
• Do you ever send others to grasp nettles unprepared?

As for the cordial, it was actually really nice. It’s very refreshing and far better than any bottled cordial you can buy. Well worth a few stings.

If you’d like to chat about how we can help you to overcome any fears or issues in your business, please do drop us a message here.

*This post was originally published on janebinnion.com and has been reproduced here with permission.