The Lesson in the Gardenia

"The birth of every action is in thought."

The depth of this statement is astounding for me as I begin to peel back the layers of the onion that is the Law of Attraction. Not only does it apply to the obvious similarities thinking negative and positive thoughts it also applies to opinions, judgments and thoughts that we give seemingly no attention to as they appear and re-appear in our minds.

A good friend of mine, Bill Condaxis, with whom I've shared many conversations about the mind in general as it relates to golf and life, has on many occasions commented that;
"most people think that they have opinions about this or that. What's mostly true is that their opinions have them!"

I have found this to be true for me. My opinions even control what actions I will take and won't take. An opinion no less! With every opinion, a decision has been made, a judgment has been made and therefore your actions are affected. The opinions I have held have OWNED me and limited my ability to achieve and reach some of the goals I've set for myself.

I have found for me that being empty of such thoughts is the pathway to being as I was created and born; open and unlimited.

In the Tao Te Ching, part 3 it reads;

"......The Master leads by
emptying people's minds,
filling their bellies,
weakening their ambitions,
and making them become strong.
Preferring simplicity and freedom from desires,
avoiding the pitfalls of knowledge and wrong action."

I've found for me that the more I empty my mind of limiting beliefs, the more spiritual power I have. The more spiritual power I have the easier my life seems to be. Shed the ego and the rest will follow.

Now what about that darn gardenia?

I have this 20 x 20 foot space in my front yard. I've never liked it (thought) so consequently, I didn't do much about it while in my indecision about what to do with this space. My wife finally said "honey, remember about the front yard? Can we do something about that?" That prompted me to begin to clean out the space and formulate plans to create there. I cleared out all but one lone gardenia plant.

I love gardenias. I wore one when my wife and I got married. I didn't want to destroy this plant as I love it not to mention there was an irrigation line underneath it and I didn't want to rupture it.

I dug a hole to transplant the gardenia...and waited...lol..I couldn't decide about the hole. I mired myself in indecision about the entire process...then...

I began to look at the space. I began to create images in my mind about the nice little sitting patio I wanted to create with decorative bricks. I saw moving the dirt in my mind and leveling it out (there is a bit of elevation change there) I then began to imagine a new border in front, new plants and then how nice it would feel seeing it everyday when I woke up, came home or while I was out mowing the lawn. I went to Home Depot, priced bricks and picked up some additional tools I would need. I began, as a result of this exercise, the get excited about what I wanted to create. Then it happened...

I got into action because of this image. I blessed the gardenia and thanked it for all the beautiful blossoms it shared with my family, dug it up and disposed of it. Now the space is taking shape in my spare time and it's going to look great. I became enthusiastic because of my thought about it. I got away from the doubts, the fear of breaking something and moved into action to create something that I really wanted. My enthusiastic thoughts created positive actions!

This process can be repeated for anything! This is the "Secret" to attracting into my life the things I want. I empty me and create the image in my mind then let action take it's course.

Pick something, give it a try, get enthusiastic about it and that will create your image before you.