Live it Now: Water flowers, not weeds

Hello Friends!

These past couple of weeks I’ve been practicing this mantra: Water flowers, not weeds. During my daily yoga and meditation via the Gaia app, I came across a seated session by Bernie Clark that stirred something in me and made me realize that, although I try to be truly happy and gleeful, in my mind, I’m not my self’s best friend as much as I strive to be.

I battle the negative self talk. She’s a tyrant at times, a real jerk. We’d never be friends in real life. Shutting her up is hard sometimes. She wins more often than I’d like to admit. I’m a bit ashamed to acknowledge she is still part of my psyche (that’s her speaking, by the way. Ugh. I’m writing here! Leave me be).

You’d think as I’ve aged I would have learned by now how to quiet that snarly beast. But she is nestled in there pretty good, and rears her ugly head at very unexpected times. I’m off skipping through life having a grand old time and, POW, she pops me a solid push in the middle of back and laughs at me as I stumble to recover.

Every little thing can become a big thing if we let it. That car who cuts us off — not the driver but, rather, the car. We wouldn’t do that in a grocery store line or at the bank. Can you imagine if you saw a bunch of people heading into a congested line of buggies at your local store and one person just brazenly runs ahead and merges in wherever they chose?

I’m the gal who would call them out and remind them of the etiquette, the rules. There are rules right? Unspoken ones. So why do we zoom about willy nilly and flip the bird while we’re in the car?

Maybe let’s try to be more patient with each other. This all leads into my fun little flower garden I’ve grown quite fond of (Ha, I’m so punny). The guided meditation reminded me that we are not our thoughts, they are just thoughts and we can choose to water the negative ones (weeds) or the peaceful ones (flowers).

It’s tricky — like RUN DMC says — but worth the effort. I was stuck in a bank line the other day, and I was getting antsy, so I put this new practice to the test. In my busy mind, I merely suggested the idea of calm, what it truly means, and how I could find it right now. If I could have found a comfortable seat right there on the floor I would have, but that’s just too weird. So, I went inside and found the tiny little garden I’ve been tending.

I’m greeted by a cute little gate I could have stepped over, but choose to open; the dark and dreary weed patch is off to my left, whipping about in the wind, aching for more water. But, no! I am determined to pick a flower and go somewhere lovely, dammit! Remember, I’m real life-ing right now at the RBC in Sahali.

As I gingerly walk through the unnecessary gate, the exhale just happened. Had I been holding my breath? After a week of solid practice, it worked! It actually worked! I picked up the watering can I’d left there from my last unsuccessful attempt, and delicately began to water my seedlings that were just starting to smile for me.

I’ve named a few: courage, peace, love, laughter, joy. And then there’s one fresh out of a Dr. Seuss book, stretching up for little extra love that makes me giggle, and I’m content. Almost 20 minutes in line at the bank — 10 of which, I quieted the negative beast and went inside to this wonderful place that truly soothed my soul.

I’m planning on watering that garden every time a tweak of anger or annoyance knocks on my heart. Maybe this doesn’t work for you, maybe it does. Maybe yours is a field full of badass cars that need polishing up, or horses that need brushing or fishing rods that long to be cast into that perfect pond.

Either way, water your happy garden, give it try. I adore my little gate, even as my flowers grow. I’ll take the time to open it and find myself there. Symbolism can bring such awareness if we give it a chance to work its magic. I send you all a tiny little bouquet of kindness from my preciously protected garden. Life is waiting, live it now!