“Stop watering the weeds in your life and start watering the flowers.”

Here is the metaphor for this Intentergy Positivity Challenge:

Flowers = good stuff in your life

Weeds = bad, ugly, life-sucking stuff in your life

This month we need to stop watering the weeds and provide for the flowers in our lives.

Pull out, remove, mow down, stomp out, and destroy the elements of your life that are stopping you from smelling the metaphorical roses and skipping through those figurative daisies.

Debt, negativity, self-doubt, waste, bad habits, tardiness, or lack of attention are all weedy subjects and have the ability to be lessened in our lives.

  To make your weeding worthwhile, you need to establish a measuring system.

 Set goals.

If you plan to weed out excess spending, make a list of the items or services you don’t need. Establish a budget and determine what you will do to water your success. For example, if you save X amount of dollars, treat yourself to a milk shake or a ticket to the summer box office bargain movie.

When working up the roots of negativity and self-doubt, get ready to dig deep. Eliminating the source of depressing or downbeat influences can be harder than removing the tangible “weeds” in your life.

 Need some tools for weeding out the negative? Try some of these positive practices.

• Surround yourself with positive people. When you knowingly spend time with individuals who are negative, you allow their negativity to pop up in your thinking too. Go for the happy-go-lucky friends and positive energy will abound.
• Rest up. Exhaustion is fertilizer for negativity. Take a cat nap here and there. Do what you can to get those 8 hours of healthy sleep a night. Having a happy sleeping space leads to happier mornings and healthier days.
• Water your body and your positivity. Our bodies work better when they are hydrated. A hydrated body leads to healthier complexion, better digestion, and more efficient absorption of nutrients. Hydration aids in metabolism and provides necessary fluids for muscle function. If your muscles ain’t happy, ain’t no”body” happy.
• Let the sun shine! Getting plenty of sunshine is integral to a sunny disposition. Vitamin D from the sun does so much for our body, including reducing depression and negative energy. (Don’t forget the sunscreen though. Nothing dims your shine like a sunburn.) 
• Play DJ Positive. Roll the windows down and blast your favorite tunes. Dance in your kitchen to your favorite songs. Swing your kiddos around the livingroom jamming out to a fast and fun beat. Science has proven that music improves mood and heart rate. Create a positivity playlist and weed out those sad songs. Flowers aren’t the only ones who grow better when music plays.
• Put on your positive pants. Wear gear that makes you feel good. When you are confident or comfortable in your appearance, there is less room for self-doubt to sprout. Look good and know it. In the words of the late, great Audrey Hepburn, “Happy girls are the prettiest.” (This goes for guys too but it makes you more handsome.)
• Say “NO” to drama. Turn off the reality TV. Walk away from the ho-hum timeline posts and tweets. Nip the gossip root in the bud. Quit breaking your back to make someone happy who is never going to be happy. Drama is another negative nutrient that we don’t need.

• If it ain’t broke, be happy with it. Some things in life are great the way they are. Celebrate the reliable and positive aspects in your life. If you have someone or something in your life that makes you happy or comfortable and they don’t take away from your productivity, don’t try to change them. Change is good but in some cases, reliability is better.
• Follow the positive path. If you find yourself in a rut, try a new path. Doing something over and over without positive results is not a fruitful practice. Shoes that hurt our feet usually get tossed. The same should go for routines that wear us down. Toss out those old practices and find ones that enhance your life.
• Hear those birds singing. There is no better source for positive energy than nature. Listening to the birds sing or the crickets chirp can make any heart happy. Pick some wild flowers or play “What shape is that cloud?” Let your positive energy form organically.
• Break time. Just take a break. A coffee break. A candy bar break. A music break. A front porch swing break. Get away from negativity and break into some calm and quiet. Break the pattern of negative and invite some quiet time to grow positivity.
• Find a happy ending. Watch a funny movie. Read a positive book. Listen to the recitation of a moving poem. Enjoy a cartoon with your kids. Happy endings can happen.
• Are you joking? Tell a joke. Ask someone if they know a good joke. There is nothing better than the sound of silly laughter.
• The distance between two people (or to positivity) is a hug. Give a hug; get some positive energy. Hugging is another scientifically proven way to feel more positive and increase self-esteem. Seriously, go hug somebody.
• Find a solution. Solving a problem is a quick pick-me up for any down day. Do a crossword puzzle or Sudoku or put together a jigsaw puzzle. Feeling smart is definitely a great way to weed out self-doubt.
• Complimentary positivity. Giving compliments (genuine compliments) harvests tremendous positivity. When you show appreciation for others and their talents or efforts, you increase the value of your interactions and brighten the perspectives of all those involved. Give the gift of a compliment and you will reap some seriously positive rewards.
• Be a kid again. Start a conversation with a child but let their innocence and imagination guide the discussion. Let their wonder and creativity be your escape from the negatives that plague adulthood. Do something that you enjoyed in childhood. Swing on the swings. Blow bubbles. Ride a bike. Build a fort. Be a kid again.
• Don’t scratch that itch. If there is a silly worry or annoyance that serves as your pet peeve, don’t let it bother you. Eliminate the negativity of the upside down toilet paper roll or shoes lying in the hallway with positive ignorance. The world won’t stop spinning if the dishwasher isn’t loaded the way you like or the bed made with the flat sheet under the pillows. Don’t let little things bother you. Let positivity be your hydrocortisone cream for negativity.
• Leave an away message for negativity. As soon as a negative situation starts to sprout, put up your “Away from negativity right now” sign. Don’t even answer the call of negativity. Put it on silent and turn up the positive calls in your life. Say, “Yes,” to walks on the park and picnics with your kids. Don’t worry if you eat a quiet lunch alone at your desk. You aren’t letting the gossip grapevine snake into your life. (Plus no one can steal your chips or talk with food in their mouth there.)
• Put your positivity into words. Start a gratitude journal or make a list of the things you love about yourself. Writing down good stuff is like planting positive seeds in your mind. Only good can come from those thoughts.

Weeding out the negative in life results in a flourish of positive. Take this challenge and find energy and positive thoughts flowering in your life. “Stop watering the weeds in your life and start watering the flowers.”

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. Weeding your actual garden fights negativity too.