Weeding Your Garden for Greater Joy

Recently I’ve noticed a lot of individuals who appear to love what they’re doing, but are anything but filled with joy. And, I’ve got a theory that a lot of us wind up robbing ourselves of ready-joy by creating situations that are unbalanced or dis-eased.

Dis-ease in our lives can be caused by a variety of things but I’ve noticed five that seem to pop up a lot. (I’m sure there are more but these are the ones I’ve noticed most.) In my book, The Bountiful Garden, these types of “dis-ease” are the weeds that keep us from realizing a joy-filled life.

A few of the more popular ones are:

– Not being our authentic self (being or doing based on what society or others says is ‘right’)
– Living beyond our means or creating a lifestyle to impress others
– Habits and lifestyles that hurt us mentally, physically or financially
– Destructive relationships
– Lack of self-knowledge

If you’re missing joy in your life and wondering how to change it, take a close look around for ‘weeds’ that might be populating your garden. (Remember, they can be tricky and sometimes even look and smell like flowers!) Then examine how you’re dealing with them. As any good gardener will tell you, cutting a weed off at the top might make your garden look better for a while but to really give your garden room to grow, you have to take hold with both hands and pull the weed out roots and all.