Pull the Weed by the Root

On the stories we let take root, and what it takes to finally see them clearly

Monday Moment #5

Photo by AT on Unsplash

I spent the weekend pulling weeds.

There’s just something about focusing on one small thing at a time, clearing the clutter, that keeps me present. And the weeds are relentless right now. ‘Tis the season.

I don’t pull them all, though. In some corners, I let them be. They fill the gaps. They’re part of the natural order. Wild, a little chaotic, sometimes beautiful, sometimes not so much. But in the spaces that matter to me, I want clarity. I don’t want things overgrown and fighting for room.

Halfway through day one, it hit me: the weeds are just like the stories we carry.

The stories of not being enough. Of not having enough. The whispers that say, “See, I told you so.” The ones that send us into fight, flight, or freeze, right when we need each other most.

Those stories keep coming back, whether we invite them or not.

And what matters most is what we do when they show up.

Most of us tend to do one of two things.

We give them all our power and believe them completely, or we pretend they’re not there at all.

Neither works.

Ignoring them lets the overgrowth thicken. Indulging them keeps us trapped. Either way, we stay beholden.

It’s simpler than we think, though. We just have to be willing to see the story and then work with it.

Ease it free from the terrain it’s taken hold in.

Pull too hard, and you snap it at the surface. The root stays, and it grows back.

Don’t pull at all, and you’ll never know what’s actually living beneath it.

We finally begin to understand it when we go deep enough to see the whole thing.

And understanding is how we stop being run by it.

THIS WEEK’S PROMPT

What story keeps coming back for you? The one you either fight against or reluctantly let run things?

What might it look like to simply get curious about it this week, without judgment?