Be The Courageous Gardener Of Your Mental Body

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”  Marcel Proust

Who would want to visit a garden that is full of waist high weeds, colorless and uncultivated?  I would not, simply because it is lifeless, neglected and kind of sad.  Even if you planted a beautiful seed,  it has no water, or care. There is nothing to nourish this beautiful plant to take root.

Now imagine a colorful garden full of beautiful flowers, or food growing in abundance.  The area has been prepared, seeded and the little plants raise their courageous heads to the sun, in anticipation of growth and change.  You can compare these two scenarios to the mental bodies of the human race.  Each person is different, according to what has been planted in the garden of their consciousness.  The mental body is a magnetic field, and through the power of your attention, draws into itself whatever it is being fed.  What are you feeding yours?  Garbage such as anger, judgment, blame, jealousy or even hate?  Or, are you feeding it peace, joy, abundance, love, and a sense of knowing that you get to choose?  The healthy plant that is loved and cared for carries a pattern of perfection within itself, just as you do.  Are you willing to hold that pattern in your mind in a receiving way until it can be externalized?  Have the courage to cultivate, feed and water this pattern of perfection that wants to expand and express itself in, through and around you.

When you get an idea, it is the responsibility of the mental body to hold this idea clearly – long enough for your feelings to breathe it into life.  How does this happen?  By breathing  love, enthusiasm and expectation into the idea.  It is like a rhythm that accompanies this pattern of perfection you wish to manifest into form.   How do we fail or fall short of this?  As I mentioned earlier, our mental bodies are meant to be a clear, magnetic field.  It is cultivated and ready for planting.  When we put accumulated concepts, mass consciousness of fear, doubt, failure, doom and gloom into this beautiful garden of our mental body, there is no space for the good stuff to grow.

The mental body receives through the power of your attention, as well as through the activities of the senses. So imagine your attention connects with something, good, bad or otherwise.  Now your mental body forms a picture of it in your mind, and through the senses, whatever you have placed your attention on, enters the mental body and adds to what is already there.  In many cases, there is an accumulation of discordant garbage.  If we keep storing the same old garbage, there will be no room for the beautiful life we all want to live.  Start by pulling some weeds out of the garden of your consciousness.  Maybe your garden is beautiful and yields great and wonderful life experiences.  Now and then, you may find a few new weeds, or a couple of really big ones that need removing.  Go on in, and pull them out.  Then move on, without resistance, just knowing that all gardens need weeding, and constant tending to stay beautiful.  Just like you.

Here are some very wise rules to live by that will help your garden grow.

Watch your thoughts; they lead to attitudes.
Watch your attitudes; they lead to words.
Watch your words; they lead to actions.
Watch your actions; they lead to habits.
Watch your habits; they form your character.
Watch your character; it determines your destiny.

Tags: Courage, Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online, Encouragement, Gardens, Living in Courage, Living in Courage Online, Marcel Proust, Mental Body, Motivation, Spiritual, Wikipedia