James Allen, author of As a Man Thinketh wrote, “A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth.  If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.”

Here, let me show you.

I have two garden boxes in my backyard – one has raspberry plants.  I think my neighbor got tired of me hinting about how yummy their raspberries must taste and finally offered us raspberry starts from their garden.  Boy, how the plants have grown and thrived!  Just yesterday I picked about 40 plump, red, sweet berries.  The bees were even kind enough not to sting me whilst I gathered.

Then there is the other box.

I haven’t planted anything in it.  I actually tried – my 1st grader brought home a pumpkin start at the end of the school year.  We prepared the soil, set the drip lines, placed the fragile pumpkin plant in the ground…and ten minutes later the dog dug it up.

I was so mad.  (A goldfish would’t have done that.)

Demotivated, I haven’t planted anything else.

I took a picture of the garden boxes today.

On the left, healthy, full raspberry bushes.

On the right…weeds.

Weeds, weeds and more weeds.

I didn’t plant any of the weeds – not a single one.  But they grew.  Unwanted, annoying, ugly weeds.

Allen goes on to explain, “Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts.  By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life.”

He is right.  Both gardens did “bring forth.”  I like the garden on the left a whole lot better than the one on the right.

I am convinced that what we plant and nurture in our minds becomes evident in our lives.  Positive thoughts produce positive results.  A neglected mind, allowed to run wild, will produce “wrong, useless and impure thoughts.”  Weeds.  Weeds of the mind.

But we have the choice.  That’s the amazing thing – We. Get. To. Plant.  WE are the gardners of our mind.  As we plant seeds that are”right, useful and pure thoughts,” we will reap great rewards and accomplishments.

Seed Ideas

I can

I will

I am strong

I am determined

I am meant to succeed gloriously

Plant.  They will grow.

(…and so will you.)

 

 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2012 at 9:37 pm and is filed under BillionClicks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.