Can you really go wrong when you start out with a Shakespeare quote? Methinks not. His quote says far more eloquently what this post tries to say in so many paragraphs. Read on and gain insight on why it is so difficult to renew and change your thinking processes.
For thousands of years, farmers have been growing food to feed their families and communities. Anyone who has spent time on a farm knows how difficult farming can be. The hours are long, and there are no paid vacations. Working on a farm is difficult work. One of most challenging things farmers have to deal with is the growth of weeds in the middle of their crops. Weeds take plenty of forms, but they all destroy the good plants around them by stealing vital water, nutrients, and sunshine the plants and crops need to survive.
Trying to grow positive thinking is quite similar to growing a garden or farming crops. It takes much less effort and skill to grow weeds. In fact, one doesn’t need to put in any effort to grow weeds. These pesky little additions to any garden or crop area grow without any help. They sprout up, and they are very difficult to get rid of. The same holds true with our negative thoughts It takes no effort to have negative thoughts; it takes considerable effort, however, to get rid of weeds and grow the grow the plants you want. Getting rid of negative thoughts to start growing the positive ones takes work. Just like it’s worth doing the hard work to rid your harvest of weeds, it’s worth the hard work it takes to rid your mind of negative thoughts.
The first step to growing healthy crops is to prepare the area on which you’ll be farming. Farmers have to plow their land before they can plant crops. You have to prepare your mind to grow positive thoughts just as you would prepare a garden or farm to grow plants. It’s important that you let go of any resistance you may have. You can’t trick your brain into thinking positively while still harboring resistance to do so. It will be infinitely easier to grow positive thoughts when you commit to doing so and let go of any opposition you are holding onto.
There’s a common saying that goes, “Don’t believe everything you hear,” but sometimes, we have to remind ourselves not to believe everything we think. Our thoughts can deceive us, and in the early stages of our crop-growing, it will be tempting to give in to these weeds. Each of us has weeds in different forms. For some of us, they look like self-doubt. For others, it’s a split second where we lack the confidence to move forward. It doesn’t matter what our personal negative thoughts are; we have to tackle these weeds before they take over our gardens of success and accomplishment.
Crops grow best when they are given the proper sunlight, water, and nutrients they need. If we want to continue to grow positive thinking, we have to nourish them, too. No one else can grow our positive thinking for us.
Unfortunately, there is no magic garden where we can harvest the thoughts we want. Instead, we have to train ourselves to grow the right thoughts, and we have to practice growing them every day. You can practice growing those positive thoughts by repeating a simple mantra to yourself every day. Starting off each day with a positive thought is great way to give your mind what it needs to grow the right thoughts.
Another great way to grow positive thoughts is to be grateful for the people and things in your life. When you focus on the positive, more positive begins to grow. The next time you’re tempted to think negatively, try spinning the circumstance differently for yourself. You can choose to look at each circumstance in your life with gratitude. Most of us don’t have it as bad as we often believe we do. Rather than be aggravated that our favorite restaurant has a long wait, we can be happy that we have quick access to quality food. Instead of griping about traffic, we can choose to be grateful that we have a car to drive and a job to drive to. We can make the deliberate decision to view each day as a gift, even if the weather is bad or we received some bad news. When we live with an attitude of gratitude, it becomes easier to think positively and grow those thoughts. If you choose to look at each situation in the worst possible way, the only thing you’ll grow is weeds. These weeds will inhibit your happiness and ability to live as your authentic self.
When you are growing crops or a garden, it doesn’t make sense to change fertilizer if the crops are growing. When we are effectively thinking positive thoughts, we have to reinforce whatever it is we are doing. It’s important that we recognize when negative thoughts sneak in, but it’s important that we also recognize when we are thinking the right thoughts too.
It’s ok for us to commend ourselves for a job well done. When we give ourselves some credit for doing well, we ensure that we’ll continue on the right path. Instead of changing the fertilizer we are using to nourish our crops, we can simply make sure that we know what brand of fertilizer we are using so that we buy the same one next time we’re at the store. (Okay, I know that’s not the kind of fertilizer we’re talking about, but I like the name of it considering the context of the article.)
As we each work toward becoming a more genuine and authentic version of ourselves, it’s crucial that we grow our positive thoughts while getting rid of the weeds. We go through a shift when we learn to strive for positive thoughts. Having a positive attitude is certainly a choice we can each make. It’s comforting to know that we can decide what we sow in our gardens and to consider that our harvest is completely up to us. The circumstances only matter for so long, and then our reactions to them are what become important to the end result. It’s up to you to rid yourself of the negativity and work towards a more positive mindset
By freedom from limiting beliefs
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