Pulling Up Weeds

I'm not much of a gardener, which is good because I don't have much of a garden. However, I do enjoy growing fresh herbs to use in my cooking, so I recently took advantage of the warm weather to start clearing out weeds and unwanted shrubs to make room for my parsley, basil, rosemary, and thyme.

As I started working, it struck me how similar tending a garden is to growing healthy habits of thinking. You have to pull out the weeds in order to make room for the good stuff to grow. There were some small plants out there that were obviously weeds that I didn't want in my space.

Those were easy to recognize, easy to pull out. Some of the weeds though had thorns on them, and I had to make sure I had on some durable gloves as I handled those. And some had grown tall already because I had neglected to pull them out when they were small.

Those were harder to pull up because they'd already established deep root systems. Others crept along the ground, putting down roots and spreading runners as they went. I'd pull up one of those only to see it was just a single section that had broken off, and there were a lot of other pieces I had to find and destroy as well.

And I don't mean to brag, but while I was out there, I pulled up several maple trees and a walnut tree, pulled them up by the roots with my bare hands. Well, it was easy, of course, because they'd sprouted just a few weeks ago and were just a few inches tall. But if I had left them where they were, they could have put down roots and grown so high, they would tower over my house.

Pulling the weeds wasn't fun, but the hardest thing I had to do by far was to pull out some old shrubbery. These bushes were not weeds. They had been deliberately planted by a previous occupant of my house. But I didn't think they were pretty, and they were taking up the best space for my little herb garden, so I was determined to dig them out.

I dug and pulled and chopped and dug and pulled and chopped and dug and pulled some more, and the bedratted things came up only a little bit at a time. The bushes scratched up my arms and legs, and the deeper I dug, the more I turned up slimy worms and snails and prehistoric looking bugs. I think it took me a couple of hours of sustained work, but at last all the bushes were stuffed into yard waste bags, and the dirt was turned and raked, and it's ready to receive the new plants I have in mind.

After I plant the herbs, I'll be keeping a close eye on my garden, because I know how weeds are. They will sprout up and take over if I don't keep pulling them out. Also, I did have to concede one battle to the shrubs. Some of the roots were so deep, I had to cut them off and leave parts of them in the ground. Sometimes things are just too deep to get to. I don't know if they'll put out new growth, but I'll have to be vigilant and watch for it.

Maintaining Your Mental Garden

Cultivating healthy thinking habits is a lot like cultivating a garden. You have to dig out the negative thoughts and limiting beliefs, or you'll never have room for healthy thoughts to grow and flourish and bear fruit. It doesn't necessarily matter where the weeds came from or why they took root.

What matters is pulling them up by the roots as early as you can. Negative thought patterns are like those tiny trees in my garden. If they never get the chance to grow, they're easy to get rid of. But once they've been in place for a long time, it might take a whole crew of people with hard hats, and a bucket truck, and chainsaws, and ropes, and pulleys, and a giant wood chipper to get rid of them.

Even thoughts that were deliberately planted years ago, whether by you or someone else, can be rooted out with effort. And there is no shame in getting rid of thoughts that someone else planted. Even if you were the one who chose to plant those thoughts years ago, you can decide to change your mind now.

If you no longer need, for example, to put your children first because they are now independent adults, dig out that old belief and put it in your waste bag. If you no longer want to work in a company culture that doesn't reflect your deep rooted values, then pull up your roots and move on. If it doesn't serve you to think in ways that produce feelings of sadness, fear, guilt, or shame, then pull those weedy thoughts out, even if it means you have to dig deep, even if it means you encounter slimy worms and snails and prehistoric looking bugs along the way. You can choose to clear the ground of your mind and choose to plant thoughts that you do want to think.

Pull out thoughts like, "I'm not enough" or "I don't deserve success" or "I'm not lovable, no one will ever love me." Pulling out those thoughts is a great first step, but you also need to plant new, healthier thoughts in their place.

Planting Good Thoughts

I have not taken antidepressant or anti-anxiety drugs for years in spite of my previous long history of depression. It hasn't always been easy. I had lots of terribly weedy beliefs I needed to dig up and throw away.

Some of them were pretty easy to get rid of. Others had been planted in my psyche so long ago, they had roots that ran extremely deep. And I admit, there are times when those deep roots put out new sprouts.

If I'm not careful, they can grow and begin trying to take over. Fortunately, years of practice have sharpened my skills, and I have a large collection of tools to bring to the fight. It isn't enough to simply pull out the weeds of your mental garden.

It's important to plant new, healthy beliefs and to tend them carefully. Plant thoughts like, "I am enough just as I am," and "I deserve success as a reward for my hard work," and "I am worthy of being loved," and "No matter what happens to me, I can cope."

Even if those thoughts are just tiny seedlings at first, if you give them air and water and nourishment and sunshine, they will grow. They'll put down roots in your consciousness, and they will grow to overshadow the weeds of doubt and anxiety.

No one says gardening is easy. It can be backbreaking work. Just ask my back. And the weeds are relentless. But there is nothing that compares to the harvest produced by a well-tended garden.

You have to keep at it. And when you do, you will see your efforts bear fruit over and over again. And you can take seeds as well as sprouts from your garden and share them with others.

That's what I try to do with this blog. I know I can't solve anyone's problems for them, but I can share what I've learned. I can help you water and feed your garden by being here each week.

As always, I welcome any questions, comments, or gardening tips you may have. I'm easy to reach in email at louann at louannclark.com.