Intention...What is Growing in Your Garden?

I often read article titles like, "Set an Intention for Your Day." When I'm in a good place, it sounds promising and full of potential. I'll think it's a great idea. However, if I am not in a good place it can sound somewhat annoying. A bit too saccharine, almost condescending.

Every night, I try to set my intention for my sleep and for the next day. I am hopeful that I will wake up, sit in meditation and focus on intentions or affirmations for my day. I intend to have time to focus inward and create my day.

But then life happens before I can get to it. A work email pops up and demands immediate attention. A child gets sick and is sent home from school unexpectedly. A news story catches my attention and I distract to Google to find out more information.

Suddenly, my morning of intention and connection has slipped through my fingers. I'm off scrambling to address the next issue that falls on my plate.

Don't we all have days like this? We have the best intention but life suddenly steps in with other plans. The problem is that one morning can turn into a week, or a month where things feels "off." Suddenly, I don't feel very positive. Life feels overwhelming. The future uncertain.

I'm left wondering- where did all this discord come from? Why am I so off balance? Normally it continues to build (the Universe is kind like that) until I sit down and ask, "Ok. I give. What is happening here?"

Nine of out ten times, it has something to do with my Inner Garden. I'm sure you've heard this analogy before. And even if you haven't, feel free to laugh at me because when my guides told me about it years ago, I thought I was the only person to figure this out. It was genius! I was going to change the world! I realized much later that this gem of wisdom has been handed down numerous times to countless people. And even though I can't take credit for it- it does hold true. I call it a Universal Truth.

In the Garden of Life- I control what seeds get planted, what blooms and what weeds get pulled. My "crop" is the outcome: a combination of my inner state and world around me.

The seeds are my thoughts. This is brilliant because I get to choose what seeds I plant each day. Then I get to choose which ones I want to water- by my attention. The more attention I give the seed- the more it's watered and nurtured. I can plant flowers (positive thoughts) or I can plant weeds (negative thoughts).

This sounds great in theory. "Ok, I'll just sit down and think of 10 great things I want and it will happen." This ties in to manifesting- It's a good start, but it isn't that easy. We have on average of 6,000 thoughts per day.

So how do we know if we've tipped the scale into more negative thinking? By taking a look around us. Are we at peace or anxious? Are we feeling balanced or are we overwhelmed? Do we feel like we are going from fire to fire or are we calm and centered? Imbalance is a sign that most likely weeds have overtaken the garden.

Just as a seed can be nurtured with attention and emotion- so can a weed. Weeds are those thoughts of fear and anxiety. "I'm not good enough." or "What if _____ happens?" or "I'll never..." We all have them.

The tricky part for me is that the weed will start quite small. Just a little thought in the back of my mind. I don't pay it much attention. But then it starts to quietly grow. I begin to feel emotions around my fear or negative thought which draws more attention to it. It begins to multiple and spread into other fears and anxiety. My thoughts become more unbalanced and negative. Before I know it, my garden has been overtaken by weeds. They block out the sun to those OTHER seeds I planted- the positive ones that I hoped to grow and bloom.

It sounds simple and yet nothing has been more true in my life. When I am off balance- it's because weeds have gotten the upper hand. I'm coming out of one of those periods now. It's going to happen. Why? Because in life, we are here to practice. It's the falling down and getting back up that counts. Recognizing it (big cheer for first steps) and then trying a different way. That's the beauty of the garden. It can change in an instant. That's the power of NOW.

Intention helps me to stay focused on the garden. I can't know what I'm growing if I don't take the time to sit down and look around. It's the inner work. It's the most important but it's also the easiest to overlook.

If I don't make the time to do so, then I can guess where I'm headed. After all, this won't be my first or last attempt at weed control.

© 2021 Regina Kitzmiller