The Mind’s Garden

Isn’t it funny how the mind works?

I have always heard sayings like; “The mind is like a garden or a farm, whatever you plant in it is what grows.” And because it’s a common saying, most times we don’t really look into the depths of its meaning, at least I don’t always.

To talk of experience, we have had enough experiences to teach us the same lesson, but somehow, it manages to gain ground into our routine lives, and once again gets lost.

One day, someone said something very hurtful to me,  and because it was someone who was dear to me (they say it hurts the most), I started to despise the person, to avoid the person, but not completely as I wanted to, because we were in the same group, so I am bound to see this *human being* (in my Mind’s voice then).

That was when this saying gave me the clearest meaning. Before then I had seen everything this person writes as humorous, I even overlooked what another might not.

But from that time, I went back and fetched all of those seeds; every “bad” thing the person had done, and planted them in his section of my mind’s garden. And of course, they began to grow.

Seedtime has come and of course, you could guess what would happen.  While other sections flourished, his section produced bad fruits- nothing he says was good, even though it was good. No good taste came out from eating the fruits produced, all were sour.

But one thing was certain; I was the only one eating this fruit.  He never ate it with me, neither did anyone else. If anyone had running stomach, it was me. If anyone felt sick from eating bad fruits, it was me.  If anyone grimaced at sour fruits, I was the only one. It was my garden and so I was going to enjoy the *fruit of my labor*.

That’s not the end of the story.

After a while, a friendship which had withered, found its bloom again, and guess what? Yeah, you got it right, that section of my garden began to produce good fruits again. If anyone regained health, it’s still me. And as I write this, I am still laughing at what was said.

Back to the saying, the mind is a garden, a farmland, extremely fertile. You reap as you so plant. But remember that you reap it alone. 

Lovin your neighbour as yourself is not an empty saying.  That means, if you don’t love your neighbour, you equally don’t love yourself, because you will feed yourself with the bad fruit produced from your neighbour’s section of your garden, thereby bringing harm to yourself. So you see, you don’t love yourself either by hating anyone. 

Pray to God and ask for the ability to love. If you must fulfil God’s purpose in your life, you need LOVE.