The Garden of Your Mind

If you think of your mind as a garden, what have you planted? You know what's planted there by what's growing!

If seeds of doubt are planted, life may seem uncertain. The harvest may include questions such as 'Do I deserve to get what I want in life?', or 'Can I succeed?' or 'Will I ever be good enough?' These seeds can be planted very early in life without our consent however, once you find them they must be made into compost! If you find these weeds popping up, dig down to extricate the roots completely. Even after doing this, you may find tiny shoots still. They are hardy plants. Weed often. As you remove each weed, remind yourself that you deserve a beautiful, productive, well-balanced garden.

If you find that your 'garden' is overcrowded and little grows well, you may need to transplant some items to your nursery bed and save them for another season. Simply look at the size of your garden plot right now. What are the most important 'crops' right now? Perhaps you have small children who need attention. You may have to save the 'I should write a book' seeds for another time. When you look at the garden and see that it is unbalanced, be ruthless. Look at the needs of the seeds you want to grow and make room for only those. Save the others for another season. What do you need to transplant?

If a plant has completely overshadowed the entire garden, it may need pruning. This sometimes happens when that one plant is receiving all the nutrients, time and attention. Others cannot flourish unless they were planted because they prefer shade. Are there some seeds in your garden that cannot grow because they need more light? You may have to prune that one big tree! Yes, you likely can make a great case for keeping it. Of course you can because that's where you have been putting so much fertilizer for so long and you just know you were doing the right thing. What's shriveling from the lack of the sunlight of your attention? Prune!

Do you regularly visit other gardens to stimulate your imagination, or to verify your choices? It's wise to do this. Spending all your time in your own garden is limiting. You learn very little and your garden seems so very big. Expand your thinking. See what others are planting and the effects. A new plant may be just what your garden needs for beauty, balance or new growth.

Check your garden for slugs. They are attracted to conditions of dampness and coolness. They feed on decaying plant matter. Do you have any slugs in the garden of your mind? If you are focused on what is wrong with things, on what is not happening, on negative judgments about yourself and others, these could well be 'slugs' for you. As with real slugs, the first step is to eliminate places where they can hide. Dark places where sunlight cannot reach. They need to be handpicked off. Draw them out in the dark, put them in soapy water and throw them on the compost. Slugs have no redeeming features. They take away valuable much time and draw much negative attention. Remove all slugs and set up barriers to keep them out so you never have to deal with them again.

Your life, just like your garden, is never balanced but always balancing.

Be a master gardener!