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Sustained Success Requires You Tend The Garden Of Your Mind Lovingly and Wisely. The except below by writer Charles David Heineke offers us the beautiful metaphor of our mind as a garden.
“Your mind is like a garden:
Whatever you plant will grow.
Your thoughts are seeds you’re planting.
They produce, each after its kind.
And you, just like a gardener
Can choose which seeds you’ll plant.
And by the choice of seeds you sow,
You choose the harvest you will reap. ”
While there are countless tools and techniques available to nurture the garden of your mind, there are 3 things you can do every day to sow the seeds of an abundant harvest and keep the weeds at bay.
Sift Your Thoughts for the Gold
We all have negative and judgmental thoughts that run through our minds, even the most positive among us. Sometimes the most negative of all are those we have about ourselves. Instead of trying not to think negative thoughts, start to notice how much attention you give them. Imagine you have a sifter in your mind that is designed to capture only the seeds of the harvest you wish to reap – the thoughts and ideas that light you up and help you to be the best, most powerful version of yourself.
When you notice a destructive thought run through your mind, simply notice it and let it pass through the sifter, leaving only the seeds worth sowing behind.
Remember, your mind doesn’t know the difference between the seeds that will move you forward and those that will hold you back.
Choose Your Words Wisely
Pay attention to the words you use. Do you speak in a way that lifts yourself and others up? Do you use words that foretell of possibility or survival? Do you use labels and adjectives that support and encourage or remind yourself and others of their flaws or limitations? Sure there are times when what is needed is to tell the truth about what is wrong or not working, but is that the exception or the rule in the words you choose?
Words create worlds. The words you choose can create a field of possibility for the future, or feed the status quo that you would much rather be able to talk about in past tense.
Engage in Conversations that Matter
Start to notice the conversations you engage in every day. Are you talking about what can’t be or what could be? Are you reinforcing what isn’t working or seeking to make things work? Are you talking about what happened in the past that you cannot change or what you want for the future and how you will make that a reality? Change happens one conversation at a time.
Choose to engage in conversations that matter for the future and you will begin manifesting that future today. tweet this
Each one of these things is simple to do, although often not easy.
Your thoughts, your words, and your conversation are the seeds you sow in your mind every day.
How do you tend the garden of your mind?
Great point about being aware of our negative thoughts. I’ve found those who are not, are the ones throwing out the good seeds and watering the weeds. They only see the negative and never the positive.
So true Bill. It comes down to attitude and our attitude is always a choice. Although we all slip in negativity at times. I find it is helpful to have people around me who will hold me accountable for that!
What a wonderful post, Susan. I am a big believer in the power or words and the stories we tell ourselves and others. I particularly love your thoughts around sifting our thoughts and only sowing the seeds of gold.
Given your comment Sharon you will probably appreciate that “Listen for the gold” is one of three simple meeting ground rules I use.
Thanks for your kind words Sharon!
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Hi Susan,
Your opening quote reminded me very much of As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. As to point 1, I think it is important to not only be a sifter, but to also be a shifter, shifting the focus of our energy and attention towards all that keeps us on purpose.
How do I tend the garden of my mind. I have invisible sentries that patrol the perimeter. I visualize those guards arresting and dragging off errant thoughts.
Kind Regards,
Bill
Love this distinction of being a “shifter” that you added to the conversation.
And your imagery of who tends the garden of your mind is just brilliant!
Thanks Bill!
[…] The garden is actually your mind. Thoughts and feelings of every sort are the seeds in your mind-garden. These wholesome and unwholesome seeds are always there, sleeping in the soil of your mind. The quality of your life depends on which kinds of seeds you water and nurture. So, for example, in a vegetable garden if you plant tomato seeds, water and care for the tomato seeds, then tomato seeds will grow tomato plants. Just so in your mind-garden. If you water a seed of peace in your mind, peace will grow. When seeds of happiness in you are watered, you will grow more happy plants and become happier. It works the other way, too. If you water the seeds of anger, you grow more angry plants which grow the angry sensations you feel inside. […]