Using the Power of Perspective to Find More of What you Want in your Life.

I have violets in my garden. I put them there on purpose a few years ago, but now they are taking over. I found out the other day that violets are invasive, and I was told I should pull them out. I looked around the yard and thought, “That’s a lot of pulling.”

Shortly after, I came up to my yard and noticed all these lovely purple faces peeking up at me from the violets’ heart-shaped leaves– the best blooms I’ve ever had, right before I’m about to pull them all out!

I decided to pick a little bouquet of violets to bring into the house, so I hunted them all over the garden where they were hiding under their oversized leaves.  Pretty soon, I had a nice little bouquet and remembered that violets were supposed to smell good, so I put it up to my nose. I breathed in the subtle scent of violets, a smell I’ve never smelled before. It was wonderful!

Life is like that. Sometimes our negative thoughts have taken over the garden and really need to be thinned or removed. They have become “invasive”. But hidden within the jungle of all that foliage it is still possible to find tiny flowers of delight. Sometimes we have to dig around for them, but they are there for the plucking if we’re just willing to search. We have to train our eyes to see them hiding there. Once we do, we have cultivated the potential to look out on what was once a field of weeds, and instead see a field filled with flowers.

If you have negative thoughts or thought patterns that are taking over your life and need some taming, try this:

Rather than focusing on the thoughts and patterns that you want to end, try looking for the “flowers” instead.

Look for encouraging, open-feeling, positive thoughts and motivations hidden underneath the negative ones, pluck them to enjoy, and bring them into your “house” of consciousness. For example, bring in the positive thoughts and motivations that you have chosen from your field of thinking.

Delight in these “violets” by writing them down or finding images or objects that symbolize them. Display them in a way that reminds you to bring in the positive aspects of your experience that you have chosen to excavate and celebrate.

Train your mind’s eye and way of thinking to find the hidden good in the “wilds” of your life, and take notice how your inner landscape is transformed.