Weeding My Garden – Who Knew?

I had been delaying the inevitable for days, weeks, maybe even a month or so - weeding my garden. Everyone one of them, the flower garden along the front, side and back of my house.  The vegetable garden and lavender garden.  Our memorial garden where our two beloved dogs and my brother’s cat are buried.  And the old burn pile turned into yet another flower garden.  Every one of them was being overtaken by weeds! 

Weeding to me is addictive.  Once I start I really can’t stop.  The benefits far outweigh the aches and pains of a back stooped over for too long, my broken and dirty fingernails, and the scrapes and scratches I get.   I started to think of weeding as a metaphor for weeding things out of my life that no longer serve a purpose.  Mostly what I was weeding out were thoughts. Negative thoughts that weigh me down and keep me from moving on.  Thoughts that deplete my energy and leave me angry and frustrated.  I plucked them out and threw them in the pile with the rest of the weeds.

I like seeing the clean fresh earth as the weeds are cleared away.  It gives a quick rush of fresh hope.  Like starting out with a clean slate and being able to dream again about the future.  But one thing I’ve learned from weeding is that if you don’t put something in place of the weeds, like compost or mulch, the weeds will soon take over again.  The same with my own thoughts.  I had to replace the old negative thoughts with positive ones to keep the negative ones from taking over again.  But it’s interesting how many positive thoughts, affirmations, and visualizations you need to overtake just one negative thought.  To retrain you’re stinkin’ thinkin’ with something more enriching, healthy and productive.

As far as the physical benefits of gardening, you’re using all the major muscles groups; legs, arms, shoulders, back, buttocks and abdomen.  You’re burning calories and gaining strength and muscle as you weed your garden.  Gardening 30 minutes a day can increase flexibility, strengthen joints and decrease your blood pressure and cholesterol.  You can burn about 156 calories in 30-45 minutes of weeding.   

After 3 days of weeding and 4 heaping wheelbarrows full of weeds, I can proudly say my mind and garden is weed free, and I’ve been stretched beyond what I’m used to.  Which one do you think will stay weed free the longest?  It’s a constant battle that I have to stay vigilante about if I want my garden and my mind to be clear and allow for new and fresh growth.