How Can You Prevent Weeds From Taking Over Your Inner Garden?
Posted on June 25, 2021 Leave a Comment
In 2019, my husband and I closed on our first house, and we inherited a garden-in-progress. My children and I were out in the garden yesterday, and I noticed that other plants were growing just as fast as my vegetables were growing. As a novice gardener, I still have problems discerning weeds from normal plants. We’ve had beautiful tulips and other plants sprout up since the acquisition of our mid-size garden. I noticed that many of the weeds have beautiful color flower tips and look so green, strong, and as if they belong in the garden, while other weeds look rough and unhealthy.
One day, as I was pulling some weeds, I noticed that the weeds’ vines were wrapped around a set of growing vegetables. Although I read that weeds compete with nourishment to stay alive, I couldn’t believe my eyes. How can something look so innocent, be so harmful?
How can something as simple as a four or five-letter word seem so powerful to our subconscious (inner garden)? Sometimes we do not take the words (you are crazy, silly, stupid) seriously until people call us more insulting names. Before you know it, we have a whole vocabulary to work with when we feel angry, disappointed, or resentful.
What was false now has become so real. If we were to peek in our inner garden, we would see many weeds scattered throughout our mind-soil. Over time, the weeds have strangled the truth about ourselves.
Then, the question becomes, what can you do to prevent a garden full of weeds. Here are four tips on preventing weed growth in your inner garden?
- Set the standard by telling people to address you by your name. You deserve respect.
- Daily management is a requirement. The longer I wait to address false information in my inner garden, the more the false information grows. I continue to reinforce with our children to call others by their name and not what you want to call them.
- Spend time with yourself and the truth within you. It is critical to our mental well-being to do what we can (meditate, pray) to align ourselves with the truth. The more you know about yourself, the more you can discern what is true and false.
- Realize that just pulling the weeds is not the answer. We need to create an environment that discourages life-destroying weeds while encouraging life-sustaining fruit. Now, more than ever, I believe the Bible is the ultimate manual for handling weeds. Nothing we experience today is new. People in the Bible experienced bullying, peer pressure, betrayal, insecurities, self-doubt, and a host of other issues. There are so many books that are truth-inspired (The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, A Course of Miracles, As A Man Thinketh by James Allen, and others) out there to help nourish our garden.Â
What books have you read to help keep false information at bay?
Thanks for reading my post!
Timika
Make this lifetime great! You deserve it. Please share if you believe this post can help someone and subscribe to my quarterly empowering newsletters.
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Do You Hunger For The Truth?
Posted on June 24, 2021 Leave a Comment
There is so much information out there about how to do this and that. Sometimes we get so lost in the information that we forget our connection to the Truth. We struggle with trusting ourselves and lean on others’ opinions more.
After my childhood abuse secret was out, I was told that the mother of the two family members who sexually abused me called all of the girls involved liars. Every cell in my body knew what happened, and for someone to dismiss it, I couldn’t believe it.
But, you know, being called a liar drove me closer to God. One day, I got on my knees, and I always prayed to know the truth. I practiced telling the truth, from something as small as the color of a bug to acknowledging my feelings. I also sought the truth in many of my experiences which I know kept me out of trouble.
One lesson I learned from my childhood abuse experience is to trust myself. When the Voice of Reason told me to tell my abusers, I replied, no, I couldn’t tell on the nicer one. Of course, later, I had to redefine what nice meant.
One of the best things we can give ourselves to avoid and delay mental health issues is aligning ourselves with the truth within us. I truly believe that the truth sets us free (John 8:32).
Make this lifetime great! You deserve it. Please share if you believe this post can help someone and subscribe to my quarterly empowering newsletters.
Until tomorrow,
Timika
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How Can You Have Restful Sleep Despite Your Circumstances?
Posted on June 22, 2021 1 Comment
Sleep is the most fundamental action we can take to achieve mental awareness and balance. When we make restful rejuvenation a priority (superseding our emotions and feelings), we can better deal with life issues.
I didn’t realize individuals who experience childhood sexual abuse were at an increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), having trouble sleeping, or having nightmares until I was in my mid-20’s. What I knew was I loved gazing at the dark-lit sky and hearing the symphony produced by the nighttime creatures. I loved sleep, and sleep loved me. I could fall asleep anywhere and at any time.
My mother helped with setting the foundation of quality sleep. She didn’t make us take naps, and we were in bed most nights by 9 pm. And my mother was an early riser. On occasions when I would wake up to go to the bathroom, she was sound asleep in her bed. In addition, my mother would say things like:
- “take control of your dreams.
- “You are in control.”
- “Children need their sleep.”
- “Let the past be the past.”
- “Nip things in the bud and “don’t start nothing, won’t be nothing.”
During my 20’s and early 30’s, I kept my regular sleep habits and often had trouble staying up past 9 pm unless I was on a date. Thanks to my alignment with my circadian rhythm, I could never read or study all night during my undergraduate and graduate studies. While living in my Saint Louis apartment, I would set my alarm to 1 or 2 a.m. to watch the 4 pm Oprah show I missed, and even then, I couldn’t stay up.
As you know, our circadian rhythm is our internal process that regulates the sleep/wake cycle. This alignment with nature is something we all have until we believe something can affect how our body is naturally wired. Unfortunately, over the past two years, I forgot about this alignment.
- I took things personally (a big cause of interrupted sleep).
- I stressed out about things I couldn’t control and didn’t trust God.
- I forgot the answers to life’s issues often come in the morning after a good night’s rest.
- I felt overwhelmed, unsupportive, unappreciated, and alone. In other words, I felt like a victim and attacked.
- I made things more than what they were. I saw problems and more problems. My imagination was getting the best of me.
Does anything above sound familiar to you?
I even thought about taking melatonin supplements, but I”˜ve never been a big advocate about taking stuff my body already has. When I stopped doing the above things and others, I found my way back to peaceful rest.
So, what helped to restore me to restful nighttime sleep? And what can help you?
- At one time, you didn’t have problems sleeping because of your natural built-in system. Your body releases relaxing chemicals such as melatonin and lowers other chemicals. Your body didn’t change. Your perception changed. When I changed my perception, I returned to restful sleep.
- Make restful sleep a priority. Everything else can wait in the morning or later. I incorporated some melatonin-producing foods (apples, nuts, yogurt) for a few nights, but the more I slept, the more I wanted restful sleep. You make the most of these melatonin-producing foods by eating small quantities of them, staying away from sweetened products, and making sure you eat a well-balanced snack. Avoid foods that cause indigestion. Remember, it takes your body approximately three hours to digest foods. Small snacks can be eaten no later than an hour before bed. Here are some additional tips for increasing restful sleep.
- Everything you need, you will have. I remembered how all my needs are always met. So I continued to pray and meditate, retraining my mind to trust in God, nature, and myself to know the right thing to do. God did not change. I did.
- You are not a victim but a student of life. I remembered my student approach to life and started speaking more positively to myself. Although my circumstances were not ideal and what I wanted, there were something to learn about myself.
Make this lifetime great! You deserve it. Please share if you believe this post can help someone and subscribe to my quarterly empowering newsletters.
Timika
