Your Mind as a Garden

Is your mind closer to a tulip field or a
building site with japanese knotweed?

Mental Gardening
Your mind is very fertile, and thoughts are like seeds that grow into plants. However, some thoughts are like weeds and are almost impossible to get rid of. This comes to such an extent that many people put the cart before the horse. Some people seem to believe their thoughts are something that just happen to them. This isn’t really true.

Your mind is more of an echo chamber, where what is put into it reverberates. Listening to the echo, it might feel like there was never a beginning to the noise. But there was. So to stop the echoing thought, take away the cause of its existence, whilst also replacing it with something else. A better, more constructive sound will soon take over until the negative one has disappeared. As with the negative sound, there must be a seed sound.

Japanese knotweed will grow anywhere
it can.

Like with plants creating their own seeds, a new better plant will replace itself. If you have a fertile flower bed, just imagine taking out all the weeds and then leaving it empty. No greater opportunity exists for the weeds to return.

Often I have noticed that with people who feel depressed, it is because their standards are very, very high. Sometimes they can keep the plates spinning, but they cannot achieve it constantly. This has a counter intuitive effect of making them endure an incredibly low standard of life. This for me, is because if they can’t have perfection, it doesn’t even matter. With your flower bed, maybe you can’t have the prettiest flower. But surely, you can have a better one than the weed that would grow instead?

Your mind as a garden
Your mind is a garden. For some people, it is a chore to sort out their garden. For others they take great pride in establishing their will upon it. Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter, the garden is organised and is doing what they can within the boundaries. No, they can’t control the weather, but they can control the garden.

This doesn’t mean you can turn your garden into a 7 acre plot, but you can certainly make the most of what you do have. Imagine how long you can leave a garden before it needs something done to it. The weeds are always trying to take hold, and what stops them is actually the fact something else is there. The earth has been dug and raked, and something intended is planted and cultivated instead.

Can you begin to see the parallel between the mind? In order to stop thoughts of negativity, something else must be put in its place. Unless you believe nothing is a thing, it is quite hard to just blank something out. It is easier to replace it. All too often we forget we have the power to switch off a bad TV show, turn down the volume on the radio or change the playlist. But with our minds, a lot of the time we are even less aware the wonderful choice we have.

Something will grow in your mind if you do not put something better in. Some happy go lucky minds might get beautiful wild flowers, but a lot of the time weeds will take hold. Decide to replace it with something! If you can’t decide on the perfect thing, just decide on something that is better.

If rust never sleeps, and life is what happens when you make other plans, do you really need perfection when right now, you just need a more comfortable ride?

Evan Burgess is a qualified hypnotherapist, and can help with issues including weight loss and achieving targets in all areas of life. With a degree in music recording and qualifications in English teaching, Evan has lived abroad and enjoyed learning languages and exploring alternative ways of living. This means he can see things from many points of view, and realises that differences make us richer. Having written a travel writing book about being a street musician, Evan has performed on street and stage in nine countries. So if you have any problems with fear or confidence, you can be sure to get some tried and tested advice. One thing you can be sure of is that no advice will be given on subjects that Evan doesn’t understand first hand. Constantly testing himself despite being a slow learner, Evan is comfortable being uncomfortable. Not a gifted student at school, Evan had an epiphany when learning Swedish and getting the best mark in his class on a test after six months of study. He had learned what worked for him, and can help you learn yourself. To book an appointment contact: Evan@cirencester-scene.co.uk