Some might consider pulling weeds absolute drudgery- a dirty, sweaty chore. I tend to think of it reminiscently. As a kid, pulling weeds was something I often did with my dad, and it was a time of bonding. When I had a place of my own with a garden plot and I had to be the responsible adult to initiate pulling the weeds, I found it to be a mediative time where my mind would wonder and I would consider how metaphorical weeding and gardening really is. These metaphorical musings while gardening came at a point in my life when I was freshly uprooted from a secretly abusive and traumatic relationship, and by the grace of God had been planted into a new healthy and thriving relationship.

I realized through gardening, how similar our minds are to gardens. It is critical to pull out the weeds, the thorns- and to eradicate them in good timing; before they go to seed and multiply. The same is true with negativity and pessimism in our thoughts. They are noxious and toxic to our brain and suffocate out the beauty in our lives the way weeds, if left to takeover, strangle the good things we plant.

Pulling weeds happens one by one. I pull a weed, ensuring I have the roots. I want it completely gone. I throw it out, and simultaneously consider how I’m plucking unhealthy thoughts from my mind. Weeding is a chore that completely ends. It has to be kept up and maintained. The earlier the better, the more consistently you do it, the less you’ll have to do. The same is true with managing toxic thoughts. It requires work and consistency, but with that, it is easier altogether. Consider if the garden was left unmaintained. The weeds would multiply and take over and strangle out the vegetables and flowers. It would be a daunting task to get in there and be poked by all the thorns and thistles… maybe even the kind of task that you procrastinate to do just based on the overwhelming nature of it. An unmonitored mind, thoughts running rampant are left to submit to fear, anxiety, depression- not fruits of the spirit.

In her book, Switch On Your Brain, Dr. Caroline Leaf says, “As we think, we change the physical nature of our brain. As we consciously direct our thinking, we can wire out toxic patterns of thinking and replace them with healthy thoughts.” She also states, “When you think, you build thoughts, and these become physical substances in your brain.”

So you’ve pulled the weeds, intentionally throwing out those things one by one. Fear, anxiety, depression, hate, grief, anger, resentment, jealousy, rage. And you’re left with an empty canvas where you’ll place quality soil. Give care and attention to what you surround yourself with. The people you let into your life, the words that come from your mouth, the music you choose to listen to and the entertainment you consume- this is the soil. Let it be healthy soil for all the beautiful things you want to plant in your life.

So now that you’ve mended the soil, you choose the seeds that you want to plant. I’ll leave you with this passage:

Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.

-Philippians 4:8