Elisa Brazell
KEEPING THE "MIND GARDEN" WEED FREE
This is the "Gardening Series" Part 2. Read after Part 1, THE THINGS WE LEARN FROM SEEDS.
As every gardener knows, if you don't stay on top of weeds, they can take over your garden. They will steal the nutrients from or choke out your garden plants. When you first plant seeds directly into the garden beds, its kind of hard to identify whether the growing plants are weeds or your seeds if you aren't familiar with what the seedling should look like. Especially when gardening in an unfinished yard where there are hundreds of weed seeds being blown around. 😣
When the time comes for germination, I spend some time observing the new growth, try to identify if it is in my line or area of planting. If it is, I am semi- safe to believe it is my seed. To double check, I will try to find seedlings that pop up in areas of my garden that were far from where I planted, so I can be sure they are weeds, and then look in my planted garden beds and identify those weeds and pick them. As the season gets under way, I'll know exactly which plants are supposed to be there and which are weeds, and (in a perfect world) pluck the weeds out on a consistent basis throughout the growing season.
Now for the fun stuff:
The metaphor: KEEPING THE GARDEN OF OUR MIND WEED FREE
If you don't stay on top of weeds, they can take over your garden.
Garden plant seeds: Positive thoughts and mindsets that will lead us to our goals.
Weeds: negative thoughts that creep in to our minds and keep us from moving forward on desired goals.
Types of Weeds: Those thoughts have different sources:
-Our subconscious mind
-Other people
-The Devil and His minions
And with each of these sources, how can you identify whether the growing plants are weeds or your garden plant seeds?
Ask yourself, "does the thought help me towards my goal (garden plant seed) or impede my progress (weed)". It will take some observation and sorting. The best way I have found to identify the weeds from the seeds I have chosen to plant, is to write my thoughts down over the course of a whole day and notice what I am thinking. It is amazing to realize how many negative thoughts come into the mind in just one day. What is that doing to our level of belief in ourselves and what we can accomplish?! Once the weeds are identified, I turn them into power thoughts. I explained the process in Goal Setting and the Roadways of the Brain .
1. Our subconscious mind: The main job of our subconscious mind is to keep us safe and comfortable, and most of all, alive. When new ideas come up, it brings up things like
"Remember the last time I tried something similar to that? I failed. I'm not trying that again. It was too painful last time." or "I can't do that. I don't have the skill"
These phrases and thoughts that come to mind can be considered weeds if they stop us from attempting our goal(s).
2. Other people: Crabs in a bucket principle: Did you know that when you have a bucket full of crabs, that when one tries to climb out, the others reach up and grab it, pulling it back down?
Unfortunately, it is human nature for people to be like this too. If they see others, even and sometimes especially those closest to them going on a path that may bring success, there can be a tendency for some to want to stop them- maybe it's their own fear that person will fail, maybe it's jealousy - "if I can't have it, they can't have it". Usually its just a lack of belief that you actually will succeed. Don't let other people who are acting as crabs in your life affect your "mind garden". Pull those weeds...in nice and loving ways. That might mean explaining to that person your goal, why it's important to you, and asking them to support you in it. Sometimes it means distancing yourself until you have reached the goal or until you are able to not let their weedy thoughts or comments pull you down. I also have to throw out there that to preserve relationships and respect others, sometimes we might need to hold off on our goals and desires until timing is right for all people who would be affected by you reaching for your goal.
3. The devil and His minions:
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:9 (KJV)In my understanding of things in the spiritual dimension*, Satan and the spirits who follow him try to influence us to make negative choices and are often whispering false ideas and whatever they can to make us fall, sin, not move forward or just be unhappy. It's hard to identify whether our negative (weedy) thoughts are coming from unseen beings or our own subconscious mind but regardless of where they are coming from, we can still pluck them out using the process referred to above. Being a disciple of Jesus Christ, I also use His incredible Atonement to clear these "weeds".
*Comment or email me if you would like to hear more of my thoughts, beliefs and sources of these ideas.