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I have often heard gardeners speak of their zucchini harvest. The picture I have come away from these discussions is that zucchini are very prolific and take over and create way more zucchini than you had expected, or perhaps wanted.

This year for the first time, I have planted zucchini in my garden. At first I thought people had exaggerated -- there are not that many zucchini in a zucchini harvest. But, as the growing season has progressed in Florida, I have discovered something. You may check your garden in the afternoon and see some small 2 or 3 inch zucchini, and then in a day or two you go back, and lo and behold, the zucchini have grown immensely and are now a foot long... And there's a lot more of the same size that you hadn't even noticed the day before.

Zucchini of the Mind

This made me think of zucchini as being like "unsupervised" thoughts in our mind. When we have "negative" or "draining" belief systems and we let them run amuck unsupervised, when we next pay attention we have grown a crop of negative situations, bad vibes, depression, etc. etc.

Sometimes we may have had a few "negative" or "judgmental" thoughts floating in there, but they were so small that they didn't really seem to be making much of an impact in our lives. But then, some time later, days or weeks or months, these thoughts exploded into a crop of overgrown "zucchini" thoughts.

It's as if they take advantage of the fact that we're distracted, and they're just like kids, whose parents have gone away on a vacation, who decide to have a wild party. So the unnoticed and unsupervised negative thoughts have a party and create havoc in your emotions and in your life.

Solution: Planning for the Harvest

So the solution, with our mind as with our gardens, is to regularly do some maintenance and "weed-pulling". The ideal is to be constantly "on watch" to make sure that what is growing is what we want and that nothing is getting out of hand. However, realistically, we all know that we get distracted with life... the washing machine is overflowing, the car is out of gas, the kids need help with their homework, our favorite TV show is coming on...

There are always, and always will be, external situations that vie for our attention. However, I believe the trick is to attend to all these things while remembering that they are simply "activities" that we are "doing". They are not who we are "being". Who we are "being" is the energy inside, the energy we radiate...

So whatever is going on around us, are we radiating love, peace, harmony, or are we radiating panic, fear, tension, stress, etc? And just like the zucchini in the garden that seems to develop overnight from tiny little zucchini, so the thoughts and attitudes in our being develop overnight if we let them. So the "constant" attention is more of a checking in every now and then to make sure that the garden of thoughts is not turning itself into exhorbitantly-sized zucchini and weeds.

Weeds in the Mind

Managing your mind is a bit like managing a garden. At first the garden is spotless, no weeds, just whatever you planted. In the same way that when you start working on a new habit or new belief system, at first it seems clear-cut... no problem. But if you're not paying attention, the next time you look, you either have an abundance of zucchini or weeds... either of them growing so fast you can almost see them getting stronger with the naked eye.

Luckily, the weeds in our mind are much easier (at least less physically demanding) to get rid of than the ones in our garden. They don't require much time, or much physical labor. The weeds in our mind can be removed simply by saying: "Cancel", or as Jesus said "Get thee behind me Satan"... in other words, get out of here, now!  And the mind weed is gone! Yes, some weeds are persistent, and may insist on trying to come back, but just keep "saying no" and eventually they'll get the message.

Excuse me now, I have a garden to tend to... and some weeds to pull.

Recommended book:

The Courage to Be Free: Discover Your Original Fearless Self
by Guy Finley.

There is a world of wisdom in this small gem of a book. Guy Finley is a master at opening our eyes, ears, and hearts to the plain and simple truths of this life. We are not our sense of inadequacy, our compulsions, our defeated thoughts and feelings. We can choose the fearless path because we were, in fact, born fearless.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

More articles by Marie T. Russell

More articles by Marie T. Russell.

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