Do you realize that our mind is similar to a garden? I’ve had gardens that I carefully tended, and I’ve had those, that for whatever reason, I left quite unattended. Each of these gardens produced something; a harvest. The gardens I tended produced edible vegetables and colorful flowers. The ones I neglected produced a fine harvest of weeds and a few veggies, scraggly flowers too. I had planted seeds or seedlings in each, but without care and nurturing, well, you know what happens.
Wouldn’t you agree that we are, in essence, the master gardeners of our lives? Isn’t it up to us to be in the business of planting the seeds and seedlings of that which we desire, such as health, healthy relationships, prosperity (satisfying employment), and fulfilling lives? We not only are required to plant the right seeds in the form of goals, intentions, and dreams, we are equally obligated to nurture those goals, intentions and dreams by means of our actions. I’ll get back to this line of thinking in a moment.
During a visit to a large hardware store, I was sorting through those paint department strips of colors and finishes, trying to determine a room color. You can virtually paint anything you wish any color imaginable and they will mix up your custom color while you wait. Not only that – if you bring in a piece of something faded, painted years ago, they will utilize their magic scanner and reproduce that faded color for you.
It’s like magic!
And I started thinking; what if we could go into a life-styles store and sort through these huge racks of life styles and in just a few minutes – while we wait – the life we want would be provided for us – in a one-gallon container. And all that would be required of us – is go home – open the container – and apply its contents to our lives – and presto – we have a new life that looks just like the life that was offered us in the life-styles store.
What kind of life would you choose –
- Entrepreneur?
- Athlete?
- Peace worker?
- Successful business owner?
- President of the United States?
- Head of the United Nations?
- A parent who lives in peace?
Would you choose a life that involved travel? Stay at home? Easy? Challenging? Perhaps you’d choose to serve as a Little League coach? That may be one of the most challenging roles you can assume, as the following story illustrates: 
At one point during a game, a frustrated coach said to one of his young players, “Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?” The little boy nodded in the affirmative. “Do you understand that what matters is that we play together as a team?” The little boy nodded yes. “So,” the coach continued, “when a strike is called, or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or cuss at or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?” Again the little boy nodded. “Good,” said the coach. “Now go over there and explain it to your parents!”
As I said, “Challenging.”
What would you choose if you had a choice of any life you could live? Revisiting our imaginary life-style store, let’s presume that you scan the endless array of one-gallon life-style cans and choose the perfect life-style for yourself. You excitedly hurry home – open up the container and find that it’s empty – there is nothing in it except a small piece of paper inspired by the writings of author Ralph Waldo Trine who in 1897 stated:
“The optimist is right. The pessimist is right. Within yourself lies the cause of your life. To come into the full realization of your own awakened interior powers, is to be able to condition your life in exact accord with what you would have it.”
“What! I paid all that money to be told I’m responsible for my life? Totally responsible?” Can you see that we’re back to being the master gardener of our lives again, the CEO of our life experience? I suggest that we’ve all been to the lifestyle store – in fact – we have visited it every day.
Every day we make choices; every day we choose the color of our life.
- Entrepreneur?
- Athlete?
- Peace worker?
- Successful business owner?
- President of the United States?
- Head of the United Nations?
- A parent who lives in peace?
And yet at some time in our lives some of us have chosen to become;
- Alcoholics, addicts of some form
- Resentful
- Neglectful
- Angry
- Bound by our past
Here are three steps to coloring your life any color you want; living the life of your dreams. Here are three steps to re-coloring the faded parts of your life:
- Decide
- Determine
- Deliver
Decide exactly what you want your life experience to be. Be specific. Decide in terms of your health, relationships, employment, free time, perhaps more as you choose. But decide!
Determine the first steps you need to take in order to welcome the experiences you desire into your life. Sometimes it’s not as much as going out and taking action to make something happen. Sometimes, it’s stepping out of the way to allow it to happen.
Deliver on your commitment to continually step in the direction of your desired life. Place goal dates in your calendar, perhaps find a friend or partner to support you in your commitments. Deliver to yourself the greatest gift you can give yourself, the gift of a life purposefully lived.
Color your life the custom color that fits your goals and dreams. Color it through your intention and your actions. Be the master-gardener that plants the right seeds and seedlings to harvest the best that life can be. It starts and ends with you. Within yourself lies the exact cause of your life.