Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Fertilizing Weeds

“Dwelling on negative thoughts is like fertilizing weeds.” (Norman Vincent Peale)

Any gardener will admit that pulling weeds is not pleasant part of this outdoor pursuit. The common weed is naturally suited to the sun, soil, and water conditions of your garden. Without proper elimination practices, weeds will become much difficult to remove after they’ve taken root.

Like weeds in a garden, negativity is blooming everywhere. There are three sources from which negativity can germinate. They include our relationships, from within ourselves, and our environment.  Identifying negative thoughts, and replace them with positive ones. Improving the quality of your life this way isn’t always easy, but in the complete picture of who you are it is worth it. Take control of yourself with these useful suggestions:

1.  Be responsible for your actions all the time: If you don’t believe that you create the circumstances of your life by the thoughts that you have, pretend that it’s true for now, and act accordingly.


When something unfortunate happens, ask calmly, “How exactly did I create this, and what can I do to create something better?”


Resist the temptation to make a case for why this isn’t true. Focus on your own life. So when you ask yourself, How did I create this? ask it not from a victim-place, but from the part of you where common sense resides. Personal responsibility is primary to releasing negativity.


2.  Believe in God: In order to dramatically increase your personal success, physical health and happiness, you’re going to need to be able to surrender your frustrations to God.


Otherwise, all the world’s problems may push you over the edge emotionally.


A spiritual tradition can work. It helps to remember that there is an all-knowing Creator that knows you intimately.  Remember, even though you don’t have all the answers, your loving Heavenly Father does. This can help to release you from negativity.


3.  Choose more consciously what you read or watch: How often do you watch the news with smile on your face? The media is out of control. Story after story is based on tragic events, disturbing images and articles that cause a separation in togetherness instead of trying to bring all of humanity together.

The media and news outlets need an audience and for years upon years they have used fear, mind control and absurdity to sell. Of course it’s important to know what’s going on in the world, but it’s more important to focus on the things we can change.

The more you read or watch positive messages, the more it gets into your subconscious, and you start feeling better.

4.  Craft new goals: Most people know about the importance of carefully setting new goals. Only 3% of professionals actually undergo this vital process regularly. The reason you craft goals is because achieving goals helps to make you happier, and improves your personal productivity.


There are important considerations for setting new targets: Define your goals. Your goal should be precise, and stretch you as a person. Does this goal increase your sense of well-being? When do you want to complete this goal?


5.  Develop a new self-soothing strategy: Metabolize is an internal process in which you take something potentially harmful, and turn it into something useful. It’s hard to get momentum going on your personal growth if you don’t have a good strategy for metabolizing anxiety.


When it comes time to recognize something about yourself (something that you sense will be momentarily painful to see), you might let yourself get distracted in order to avoid the pain.


For example, take a fearful thought and turn it into a realization that you are stronger than you previously thought. Take a nervous thought and turn it into excitement.


Anxiety is part of life. If you don’t find healthier ways to deal with daily emotional discomfort, you might be tempted to medicate your anxiety with something less healthy, like sugar, denial, cigarettes, or illegal drugs. There is no one right way to deal with anxiety. The ability to see patterns in thinking has been helpful.


6.  Generate a different kind of gratitude: Instead of having the l thought of identifying something for which you are grateful, turn that thought into a physical feeling. Here’s what works: Decide on something for which you can be grateful, and then hold that image in your mind for a moment. Next, imagine your heart becoming very light, and your chest actually lifting a bit.


 Spread appreciation from your heart until you imagine your whole body glowing. Thinking grateful is good, and feeling grateful is even better.  The cells of your body will thank you in the form of improved health. Gratitude is essential for releasing negativity.


Happy people not only enjoy life more, but also have more life to enjoy. Pay close attention to your thoughts, and re-direct thought when they become negative. Forgiving others is one of the most healing things that can be done. The act of forgiveness can help to derail the runaway train of a repetitive negative thought.

7.  Identify what you don’t want: Not everyone automatically knows what it is they want in life. Once you know what you don’t want. Think about it only briefly.

There are few things more defeating than feeling your potential bubbling within you but not knowing exactly how to apply it in the world. Sometimes the more creative, intelligent and passionate a person is.
 

8.  Minimize toxic relationships: Toxic relationships often go hand-in-hand with negativity.  If an individual makes you feel bad unnecessarily about whom you are, then the person is toxic.  Toxic people often make others feel badly in order to feel better about whom they are. 

These individuals can often be family, which makes it difficult to completely remove them from your life.  In cases like this, minimize the time you spend with them. Instead work on cultivating healthier, happier relationships.

9.  Recognize patterns in your life: Imagine for a moment that the universe is a field of intelligence, creativity and compassion that is automatically configured to give you more of what you’re habitually focused upon. Try to remember that your energy and your prosperity go hand-in-hand.


This process of objective inner-listening might seem at first like a waste of time, but you’ll soon discover that it’s one of the most productive things you can do. People who meditate regularly are able eventually to be even more specific when identifying the chatter that plays inside their mind. You can get rich by being ruthless, but those people tend to have bad health, disappointing life reviews, and a shallow kind of happiness.


Vibrant joy that improves your health (and makes a positive difference to the people around you) can happen with greater frequency. This occurs because of relationships.


As you become a brighter person, you’ll attract a more positive circle of people into your daily life. Struggle and joy are not on the same channel. It is through your joy that good things come.


10.      See negativity as disease and health as wealth: Personal growth is the process of looking closely at how you handle life from the inside, and making the most of your potential. Whether you have clearly defined goals, or sense you could make more of a positive difference in the world: looking at your life objectively can help you to realize your dreams.

One needs to actually be emotionally alive in order to be in consistent relationships with other human beings. People who are always slightly tired and harried have a harder time being fully present for those they love.

Excellent health can be the antidote. Imagine that negativity is detrimental to cellular health and that positivity is restorative and healing.

11.      Social media is what you make It (so make It good): Now more than ever there seems to be an abundance of individuals living more deliberately. In addition to this there is a huge flow of positivity. There is still disruptive behavior that comes in bullying, complaining, predators, tasteless jokes, and the list goes on. Whatever it is that makes your soul cringe, get rid of it. One thing that separates you from negativity is how you choose to use a computer or phone) screen.

 Start deleting, unfriending, and inflowing negativity on Facebook. Do whatever it is you need to do to protect your emotional well being. There should be no more inquiring on other people on Facebook if it only makes you feel terrible. Put the focus back on what makes you feel excellent.

The harder it is to determine new life goals because almost everything looks interesting. “What do I want?” seems like such a simple question to ask yourself, yet answering that question can be one of life’s great challenges.

12.      We need each other: These proven relational habits help humans live longer and healthier: laughing more, pet ownership, and marriage. One is at greater risk of heart disease without a strong network of friends and family. Loneliness can cause inflammation within the body.


Isolation in healthy people isolation can be as dangerous as having high cholesterol or smoking. When we take the time to actually witness our own thoughts as they occur, we recognize that they are often centered in the future or the past, which is usually not calming to our bodies.[i]


ü “The weeds keep multiplying in our garden, which is our mind ruled by fear. Rip them out and call them by name.” (Sylvia Browne)

ü  “A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows.” (Doug Larson)

 
ü “Negative thoughts are like weeds in your garden and positive thoughts are the seeds of your garden kill the weeds and feed the seeds.” (Unknown Author)



[i] Sources used:

·       “10 Ways to Remove Negativity from Your Life” by Brett Blumenthall

·       “17 Ways to Remove Negativity from Your Daily Life” by David Findley

·       “3 Ways to Instantly Remove Negativity from Your Life” by Natalie Rountree

·       “How to Prevent Weeds from Ever Sprouting” by Lisa Kaplan Gordon

·       10 Simple Ways to Clear Negative Energy from Your Life” by Brandon Richard

 

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