I have always loved finding and enjoying the simple beauty of everything in nature. Well, except spiders and snakes. But, other than that I love spending time outside and staring at clouds, mountains, valleys, plains, bodies of water, sunsets, storms, trees, flowers, etc. and can do ALL that for hours on end. Literally. My thought is that God had to make things functional when He created it but He didn’t necessarily have to make them beautiful. It is just an extension of His love that He wanted us to be able to take pleasure in and enjoy His creation. He loves us, so He made all things beautiful. About 4 years ago I taught myself to paint using the techniques of Bob Ross. Don’t laugh. I’m actually not half bad. Haha! I love his paintings and techniques and have taught myself from watching him paint his happy trees and clouds and all their friends. He would often say that it’s fun to tell yourself a story about the places you’re creating on the canvas as it makes it come alive in your mind. Funny enough, it works. And I find myself paying more attention in nature to how the light hits things and the illusions it creates. I have learned to love the beauty in all things even more since starting to look at things with the eye of an artist. I have planted a TON of flowers since coming home to work my CBD business. I have found I really, REALLY love playing in the dirt. And I am managing to keep flowers alive but more than that they are thriving. Now that could be the Miracle-Gro . . .but still, I’m the one applying it. The one thing that Bob Ross never mentioned is the amount of weeds that grow in those beautiful places. I have been weeding my flowers often. And I came to a couple conclusions this week about these weeds. First, we need to pull the weeds out of the garden of our minds and souls even more often than the beautiful flower beds that we own. Second, I might have more of a green thumb than I have given myself credit for.
We are constantly bombarded with information. Some of it we recognize as it comes and some we really don’t but it still speaks to our subconscious mind and is stored away there for future use or pollution. I read something recently that said the average person can see up to 4,000 ads per day. I think that is really, really high (and so did the author of the article), especially in my case where I don’t leave my house much but don’t watch TV much during the day either. (find the article here: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/marketing/2017/09/do-we-really-see-4-000-ads-a-day.amp.html) But think of the person who has an hour long commute each day to work. The radio on, the billboards, the cars with logos, all of it there and being seen whether the commuter realizes it or not. Then, once the traveler is at home, she is perusing Facebook, or the internet from her computer, the TV comes on, she picks up her favorite magazine or newspaper . . . and, boom, more information. There are things we hear everyday that are not in our best interest. There are things we hear that are negative and don’t serve us. There are things we hear that don’t glorify God and serve His purposes. And we are stuck here navigating the muddy waters trying to figure out what is useful and helpful and even truthful. The things we hear land in the soft soils of our minds and hearts. It is our job to know what to nurture and what to pull out. And that is a hard job. There are times when our minds tend to hang on to the negative. It takes root and starts to grow. There is one thing I find fascinating about weeds. They grow so much faster than my flowers do! I don’t understand how they do, but they do. And while they are there, they are taking the energy, water and nutrients from the healthy, beautiful flowers I really want to see and enjoy! So, I pull them.
We also hear things and see things that ARE good and true. We are the ultimate decision makers on whether or not that is going to take root in our minds or if the wind will blow it away. Surprise, a Biblical reference. But I believe that the Bible is very accurate in its description of how our hearts receive and use information (using the illustration of seeds). Four scenarios are explained in Matthew about how God’s message is received and what happens as a result. I believe we can take that and also apply it to other types of good information. What it all boils down to is simply this: the information is received in one of four ways. Which one of those four ways all depends on the state of readiness of the person receiving the information. It can fall “by the wayside” which basically means that the person hearing doesn’t understand the information so it doesn’t take root. It can fall on hard and stony ground or on thorny soil. These simply mean that the receiver is closed-minded, or shallow, or hardened or simply doesn’t want that information or any combination of all the above. It can also mean that we have so many other distracting worries about our world and our lives that the information is contaminated and skewed once it lands. And finally, it can fall on good ground. It can fall on receptive minds. Our job is to make sure that we have cultivated the soil of our hearts and minds and prepared them to receive the good information while keeping an eye out for the weeds that WILL come. Because they will come.
I have learned a lot about my ability since planting all my flowers this spring. And it’s been interesting to watch myself throw out old beliefs and thoughts about myself while learning a new skill. I have always told myself that I do not have a green thumb. I don’t do well with plants. I kill them all. You name it, I have said it about myself. And while that is somewhat true, I think it is partly because my focus was never on caring for them as I should in the first place. Now, I still don’t know the first thing about all the plants I bought and have forgotten the names of most of them. I did what every good gardener does; *wink wink* I thought they were pretty and then looked at the tag to see if they needed sun or shade. Haha. Seriously, though. That’s what I did. But it worked. I brought them home and planted them with care. And have watered them nearly every night since . . . the exception being when it rains, of course. I fertilize the little guys once a week. And I talk to them. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THEM. If my neighbors heard, I am sure they would think I am crazy. Shoot, I think I’m crazy. Anyway. I have been doing a fine job even in the heat. But I think I have realized what it took. Finally. I had predispositions. I had some limiting beliefs. I had made up my mind that I had spent a few hundred dollars and would kill all of them. I WAS WRONG. All it took was a desire to do what needed done and be blessed by them.
Sometimes, I think we hold on to the information we have, from whatever source it came from, without really knowing why we are holding on to it. Sometimes the very foundations of the information we have built ourselves on has burned to the ground. And yet our hands are wrapped so tightly to the ashes of what we THINK is true, we have no chance of grabbing the right information and truths when they come along. We are so stubborn sometimes in the way we refuse to let go of preconception and tradition. We need to make sure the information we are holding on to lines up with what we believe to be true. The one and ONLY true fact check? The living Word of God. We need to make sure it doesn’t in any way conflict with what the Bible says on the matter. From healthy living to where we will spend eternity and everything in between. We hold on to the misinformation or refuse the correct information for so many reasons. Many times it’s fear. Other times it is our own insecurities, our doubts, our past failures and defeats, our odds of success or failure, our limiting beliefs, and many others. You name it and it can fit there. There are so many uncertainties in the world right now and there always will be. But I think a little “Bob Ross wisdom” can go a long way. Let your heart be your guide. Remember that everything has value. And everyone could use a friend. Oh. And he always said one thing that encourages me when I start to think I can’t do what I am about to attempt (and it applies to EVERYthing) . . . “Anyone can do this. You really can.” And I truly believe he was right.
#loveyourjourney #youreworthit #bettermewithNewYouCBD #Endo30 #itsuptoyou
Losing Lacy 