Friday, January 11, 2013

Seed

A couple of days ago I found this One Word: 365 concept (see previous post).  After much thought I decided on the word...



In November I attended the annual TAGT conference in Dallas, Texas.  I attended a session presented by Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden, Meaning Through Service. Lots of great information shared, many comments that made me think. One in particular, "Weed Garden or Seed Garden," really made me think about the obstacles in my life that hold me back.  Her analogy (in my paraphrased notes), when we find the weeds in our garden, we pick it out and throw it away, but the weeds grow back.  To keep the weeds from coming back over and over, the gardener has to plant a seed, and the seed will grow and strangle out the weeds.  She continued, our mind is much the same, when we have a negative thought, we don't really think about it... but slowly that "weed" takes root and begins to grow - it affects our emotions, our bodies (pain, depression, fatigue) and eventually takes over.  We have to "weed" our gardens! Get rid of the negative thoughts... but like the weed in the garden, it doesn't go away, it comes back and back.  We have to plant "seeds (positive thoughts/affirmations) in order to strangle the "weeds" from our garden.

This is where I got my word.  I debated between seed and garden, and settled on the word seed because not only do I want to "weed" my garden, but I also want to plant "seeds" in others' gardens to help "weed" theirs as well.  So, I resolve to plant a "seed" every day.   When folks are down, I can plant a "seed" of encouragement. When someone makes a negative comment, I can plant a "seed" of positivity.  When some needs help, I can plant a "seed" of knowledge or resource or assistance.

As Dr. Gatto-Walden said in her presentation: 

If you want to change your life, you need to weed your garden. You have to plant an affirmation that's truth (seed) to kill out the weed.  A SEED of awareness!! Turn the "trash" to "fertilizer.

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