This past weekend, I found myself finally getting around to weed my garden. You’re probably wondering why the fact that I got my WAY overgrown weeds under control (about a week later than I should have) is worth any of your time and I suppose that’s a fair question. As I was pulling up all the rogue grass, dandelions and whatever the heck else was in my garden, I started to think about how this whole set up was rather like our lives and the people + things we let into it. (So for those of you wondering, that is why this is worth your time.)

            Here’s a few questions for you: When was the last time that you looked hard at the life you’re building? When was the last time you realized who in your life is really there, helping you to blossom (yep, tons of garden metaphors are coming your way!), who isn’t helping you bloom, but is instead stealing your energy, your sunlight? What things do you have in your lives that are holding you down instead of pushing you up? How about the negative thoughts that we all have?

            Sometimes we have to be the gardeners of our own lives. We have to take a step back and realize that as much as we might think we love all the junk we’ve collected over the years that it’s time to let it go. Or the people – the toxic people in our lives! Why are we still wasting our time trying to force something with someone who doesn’t lift us up? You know – the “friends” who just constantly put you down, drain your energy, even steal your sunlight because they feel they’re more important… yeah, those friends. And what about negative or toxic thoughts? What about those moments that you hear the little voices inside your head saying: not good enough, not strong enough, stay down in the dark. These things, those words, and these toxic people – they’re the weeds in our lives.

            Gardeners weed so that their beautiful flowers and crops can come to life and have room to breathe. Weeds are removed from the garden because they’re distracting and draining. They try to steal the show and they take over if you don’t get rid of them. GUYS, listen to me. These weeds in our gardens? They’re like the weeds in our lives. Those negative thoughts and people aren’t lifting you up or making you believe that you can do whatever it is you want to. They’re hurting you – they’re keeping you from blooming! They want to take over – whether it’s by the mean things they say, or the bad thoughts you keep telling yourself. Why do we still waste our time with the weeds? Why do we think the negative energy will ever do anything good for us? I’m just as bad about this as the next guy in line, trust me. I’ve held onto things that just bring me down –or stayed in friendships I never should have – because I thought I had to. Because I thought the good times years back outweighed the bad ones now. Because I thought, in some twisted way, that this was my story and I deserved it somehow.

            But I’m here to encourage you to remember that you do not deserve to be held back by those pesky weeds. Take a minute and think about the things in life holding you back. Make a list. Now think about what you could do if those things and people and thoughts weren’t holding you back. Heck, write that down too if you want! And then comes the hard part: Weed out those things, thoughts and people by saying goodbye, by remembering you are worth so much more – make way for yourself to grow and surround yourself with nothing but positive energy and lots of sunlight. And I promise you, you’ll bloom.

XOXO,

Kristina