Today I did a little work in my garden. There is no better time to weed than after a rain. As I stand looking at my garden, it is loaded with weeds. When I garden I always come away feeling a sense of peaceful satisfaction. I love James Allen’s analogy that “A man’s mind may be likened to a garden,” and we are its gardener. Just as we cultivate our plots, keeping them free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which we desire. We also tend the garden of our mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, negative and unproductive thoughts, because if we don’t it will produce more seeds in which to grow from. So in my own meditative way I use this analogy. Gardening is a great opportunity to clear away the weeds in my mind. Each weed I pull represents the negative thoughts that pop into my head. As I pull it from the ground I envision myself pulling it from my thoughts. It’s very therapeutic. Then I can stand back and enjoy all the beautiful flowers I planted that were hidden behind all the weeds . There’s no better feeling then to actually see the beautiful reflection my thoughts have created.

Whether we grow thoughts of weeds or beautiful flowers, we are the master of our own gardens.