“To see things in the seed, that is genius.”
~Lao Tzu
We can’t help but plant seeds. Every moment is bursting with potential, and everything we do makes a statement about what is important to us. Our lives go in one direction, or another. We choose suffering, or happiness. We are relaxed or stressed, awake or asleep.
A friend of mine has a strong tendency toward negative thinking. It’s remarkable, really, how creative he can be to see the glass as half empty. I asked him to bring his awareness into his body, and his immediate response was, “I can’t do that.” With a little coaxing, he agreed to try, and the sense of peace was palpable in the room. It was the beginning of planting a new seed.
This is what makes life so amazing! We don’t have to be resigned to the same old, same old. We don’t have to continue to be trapped, stuck, or limited. We are not required to play out the script of our lives as if it has already been written.
Here’s the truth: every moment is fresh and new. And this may be your moment to plant a new seed.
Weeds You Feed
If you are considering tapping into your inner gardener, it might be worth your while to see what weeds you have been fertilizing. What have you been feeding that doesn’t serve?
- Fear. Are you making decisions out of fear rather than from clarity and joy? Signs are boredom, discontent, and frustration. Take a look to see how you might be worshipping at the altar of fear and limitation.
- Old baggage. Are you looking at the world through the lens of your past? What would it be like to throw away these old mindsets and see things as they actually are?
- Victimhood. Are you playing the blame game while identifying yourself as the victim? This can’t possibly support the expression of your beautiful, bountiful self.
- Self-limiting thoughts. Do you believe that you are inadequate, less than, not good enough? These thoughts may appear in your mind, but believing them fertilizes the seed of self-judgment. And nothing good comes from that.
- Emotional drama. Do you choose a good story over enduring peace and happiness? Maybe the gossip, upset, and expectations about what people should and shouldn’t do don’t serve you or anyone else.
- Compulsive behaviors. An honest appraisal will show you where you are overdoing it or choosing a well-worn, but unsatisfying, even unhealthy path.
See how your choices matter?
Plant One Small Seed
By planting a new seed, you are starting small. There is no need to make a revolutionary change or have a huge epiphany. Simply survey your landscape. See what you are doing that detracts from your happiness and well being, and plant a new seed.
Be willing to be present to yourself and your life and trust that you already know exactly what is needed. It’s OK, I promise. I believe in you more than you will ever know.
Are you ready to garden? Maybe you will :
- Take a couple of breaths
- Make the phone call you have been putting off
- Take a nap
- Go for a walk
- Feel gratitude rather than self-defeat
- Tell someone you love them
- Meet yourself as you are
All it takes is one baby step out of your comfort zone and back to yourself. Test the waters, and you’ll be fine. Eventually your tiny seed will begin to sprout. You will find yourself more aligned with what you really want. Your life will sing your unique song.
I help people plant new seeds all the time, which is why I love the work that I do as a therapist. Someone comes in all tangled up. We set about identifying the beliefs systems they operate under that don’t reflect reality. They learn the intelligent approach to emotions. They discover the freedom that comes from simply being aware. They shed the pressures and misunderstandings they have taken to be true and reconnect with their aliveness. Step by step the knots unravel.
And it all starts by planting one small seed.
What seeds would you like to plant? How’s the gardening going? I’d love to hear…
Deb Perkins says
Hi Gail,
I want to plant the seed of just experiencing life without labeling it. We are conditioned to label and compare and to create stories around everything. I love the expression, “Oh, this”….that about sums it up.
Deb
Gail Brenner says
I love this, Deb – experiencing life without labeling it. This involves either turning off or turning away from the mind. No mind, no problem. Then there is just “This.” And silence…
Bonnie Perry says
I’d like to plant a seed in that same garden Deb is talking about! I’m finding that none of the labels that have accumulated my worldly personality can accurately define my inner presence, my inner light. How could they? They are not actually mine anyway. We would have no need to label what we naturally know ourselves as, we already find it without a name. They might be fun to play with and converse with in the moment, but they can never be the informancy of my deepest truth of being.
I would also like to plant a seed in the garden of “meeting yourself as you are”, as Gail has expressed. And, I am noticing that this is probably the very same garden of experiencing life without labeling it!
Bonnie
Gail Brenner says
Bonnie,
You are referring to that essential question – who am I? As we strip the layers away one by one – the identities, beliefs, and assumptions – we are left with pure reality. Then it’s enjoyable to play with the illusory forms that appear, in the knowing of the absolute truth of the formless. Then you meet yourself everywhere.
Cathy|Treatment Talk says
Hi Gail,
Love your analogy to the garden. My seed is just to be at peace with myself and those close to me. To accept their choices and lifestyle without judgment. To let go of expectations and feel joy and happiness with what is.
Gail Brenner says
These are beautiful seeds, Cathy. Sounds like they are already sprouting!
Nessa says
Hi Gail
Thank you for your guiding words, your kind hand in the garden that is my life.
Reading this post has been a huge reminder to me that the “weeds” are not forever, I can change and am changing, but I do have control of this. I am so afraid of meeting myself as I am at the moment, – yes fear.
What to do? I do feel stronger when you say you believe in me … I don’t know you, but I do feel your strength, I will try reminding myself of your trust and belief in me and try to think about those tiny new seeds which can grow instead of the weeds,
thanks Nessa
Gail Brenner says
Thanks so much for your comment, Nessa. At some point, your desire to alleviate the suffering will be stronger than the fear. This doesn’t have to happen with an experience full of bells and whistles. All it takes is, in the moment, saying, “No.” I’m not going to do the same – I’m doing it differently this time, no matter what the consequences. One small step is actually huge. It sets the momentum that feeds on itself.
I have had many experiences of “meeting myself” over the years. Some of them have not been pretty. I have had to look at how I caused suffering in myself and others, how I made decisions that were hurtful rather than helpful. Sometimes I burned in the sorrow of it all with so much humility. Meeting myself in this way was so valuable! It was a relief to tell the truth and highlighted so clearly the consequences of my behavior. Eventually, it became easy to stay aligned with truth as it appears in me. And now, it’s so joyful, it’s hard to put into words.
No one can tell you what to do or how to be. But I can say that I totally trust that you know, and that your time of planting, tending, and reaping will come.
noch says
thanks for the post. can i also add that sometimes we can just look at all the seeds we have already planted, and make use of those. it’s a matter of being comfortable with who we are right now here in this time and space, and to use that seed to grow. sometimes we need to stop trying to be somebody else or forming too many new habits, because then we get confused in our little loops. just look at ourselves, inside, what we are at the core, what the seeds already planted are – and who knows, some seeds might already be growing, and we just need to nourish them 🙂
Gail Brenner says
Thanks so much for sharing this perspective, Noch. Yes, absolutely, sometimes the seeds are already planted. They may be deep in the soil waiting for the right time to sprout, or the seedling may be sitting right there gloriously, while we are turned the other way. All we need to do is be quiet, watch, and listen. It is possible there may be nothing at all to do, as it is already being done.
I hear what you say about forming new habits. Actually, the only habit that is worth shifting, in my opinion and experience, is where we place our attention. Do we resist and avoid, or do we receive things as they are? Then, everything that is needed follows, with no extra effort needed. Sometimes we try so hard, that what we really need to do is take a breath and relax.
Ajen says
Gail- Now this is what I call horticulture therapy! It is amazing how one tiny seed can be ever abundant in fruits be it positively ripe or negatively rotten. It is better to have an ever-bearing tree of ripening fruits than an orchard of trees with wormy fruits. I am thinking about our potentiality… planting the seed of our tree called. “Excellence,” nurturing it with sun, water, fertilizer and even wind as it gets older. Giving it temporary support when needed and humbly pruning it when the branches hint at getting out of control. Excellence is not the final result… it is a process and it is a journey; a journey that requires a focus of mind – that set forward- borne out of a seed of awareness.
Todd says
Hi Gail,
Thanks for this great reminder! If you don’t mind, I’d like to share it as part of a newsletter I send out for a nonprofit. Just an excerpt and then a link to the full article here.
Gail Brenner says
Sure Todd. You are welcome to share this article. Thank you.
Christopher Foster says
You’re so right Gail. We’re in the gardening business every moment of our lives. It’s amazing how we really do get to choose what we will plant in our garden.
I love the seed of our own unconquerable spirit. Little voices come along and say, “What’s to like in this situation?” What I like about this particular seed is it is very, very durable. Can’t go wrong if you and I keep planting the seed of our own unconquerable spirit.
Gail Brenner says
The unconquerable spirit – I love that, Chris! And we all have that within us, don’t we? This seed asks: what’s to like in this situation and invites us to grow into our fullness.
We can all benefit from planting this seed for sure. Thanks!
Sibyl says
Gail: I love this post. I totally agree with you that every moment is bursting with potential. I love those words you used and it is so in line with everything I believe. I actually have been putting together a manifesto and trying to find the words to describe what I mean when I say the “possibility of today” and what you said about every moment bursting with potential is exactly what I needed to hear;) Thanks for that and a beautiful post as always. Life really is about choosing to plant the right seeds.
Gail Brenner says
I’m sure you are writing an awesome manifesto, Sibyl. Every moment matters, and there is so much that can come from it. This understanding invites us to take full responsibility for all of our choices, as they are all planting seeds.
Ken Wert says
Hi Gail!
I love the metaphor of thoughts as seeds. Reminds me of James Allan’s work, As a
Man Thinketh. Negative weed seeds will take over the garden if not pulled as soon as they’re spotted. But positive seeds of love and gratitude and compassion confidence produce wonderful things in the gardens of our lives.
Thank you for reminding us of that fact!
Gail Brenner says
Hi Ken,
Yes, everything we do sows seeds, which invites us to be very conscious in our lives. And when we plant seeds of love, gratitude, and compassion, we reap what we sow.
Thanks so much for your sweet comment.
Enriching-Life.com says
Dear Gail, I love your list of weeds. It’s right to the point. And just like weeds in the garden they start to grow again and again, so you have to take some time for yourself or look at them from a distance to be able to recognize and remove them (once again). Thx for sharing this with us! Michaela
Gail Brenner says
Hi Michaela,
Our conditioning can be subtle and sneaky, so being aware supports us in noticing when we begin to fertilize weeds. We get to choose what we want to flourish in our lives.
Happy weeding!
Loudette Beck says
Greetings from Germany,,, Thank u sooo much Gail , now i will start to plant seeds —-will let u know ..
Big hug
Gail Brenner says
Welcome to you, Loudette. Thanks so much for stopping by.
I look forward to hearing about your seeds. Glad to hear that you are reflecting about that.
Sending love…