Weed Thoughts Continued

263 Marbles 

    I spent some time in the garden this morning, ridding the flowerbeds of weeds and little dandelion shoots.  My daughter interrupted this session with a call from school.  She was distressed and asked me to come pick her up, right away.  I had never heard her in such a state, so I immediately washed off my garden hands and went to fetch her. 
    It turns out she had a presentation and she completely froze.  She felt stupid.  She was distraught with thoughts of what her classmates would think or say and how she would never live the experience down.  She was crying because she knew the material and she just couldn’t talk when she got up in front of the class.  I tried to comfort her and reassure her that everyone felt nervous about talking in front of a class.  She was worried about her nine-year-old reputation - she thought she’d be seen as a “dumb-ass.”
    I was curious about how hard she was being on herself.  I asked her, “Aren’t most of the kids in your class friends of yours?” “Yes,” she answered.  “Would you ever talk about one of your friends as harshly as you’re talking about yourself?” “No,” she replied.  “Then why would you think that they would have such mean thoughts?” She didn’t know but she knew that she couldn’t go to school tomorrow. 
    Then I realized that maybe my weeding session hadn’t been interrupted after all.  I told her that I spent my morning tending our garden, taking out all the weeds and dandelions before they had a chance to go to seed.  I told her that our minds are like gardens– filled with airborne weed-seeds.  It’s our job to take those negative weed-thoughts out before they have a chance to grow in our minds, establish roots, and take over our garden.  She looked at me like I had two heads (and perhaps through her tears I did).  What I do know is that when we were done talking, the situation wasn’t as charged for her.  Maybe I’ve planted a good seed that will grow roots.

Thomas Fuller said, “A good garden may have some weeds,” to which I add, “A good mind may have some weed thoughts.”  I am becoming more aware when I have weed thoughts in my mind and I’m noticing when I choose to water them and when I choose to discard them.  What do you usually do with your weed thoughts?