Dandelion – a wish or a weed?

My ol’ Dad’s pride and joy (apart from our Mum, my sisters and me) was his lawn. He spent many hours and money on this lawn. It was immaculate. Each blade of grass stood to attention at the precise height. So imagine his horror when he got back from a holiday to see, right in the middle of his precious lawn… a dandelion! I can hear his choice words about that weed – not pretty – and can picture him rushing down to his shed, getting his hand digger, kneeling down on his pad and carefully digging deep so he could pull the whole root out. He would then patch up the hole meticulously so that in a few days – there would be no sign left of this invader; his lawn back to being in pristine condition.

Dandelions for my Dad = Irritation!
Our back lawn is in a rather different condition! It’s rich with a variety of plants – or as Dad would have said – weeds, which include dandelions. I love the sunshine glow of the flowers – brightening up the patchwork of green.

These plants are very common in the British countryside, probably due to many young (and not so young) people enjoying blowing the fluffy white seed-balls into the air – perhaps with making a wish, dispersing the seeds as far as 5 miles!

I remember hearing about my sister-in-law doing just this and having such fun dancing around her garden among the tiny fairy seeds flying in the air.

Dandelions for my sister-in-law = Fun!

And of course manufacturers of the drink Dandelion and Burdock, such as Fentimans will have a very different perception of this common weed.

Dandelions for Fentimans = Profit!

So people have very different perspectives about this common plant – An irritation – Fun – or source of Profit. Even a wish or a weed? What are your thoughts?

So there it is –the common dandelion minding its own business and making people feel a certain way – or is it?

How can anything “make” us feel a certain way? If it could, surely we would all feel the same. And as demonstrated from above – we don’t.

Where do these feelings come from?

From our thoughts.

And who does the thinking?

We do.

How we think about the dandelion determines our experience of them – it depends on our own filters of how we see them – through the “Irritation”  the “Fun” or the “Profit” Spectacles – which, of course, don’t exist – just self-created in our own minds. So our perception of anybody or anything (including a dandelion) is up to us. And realising this gives us so much choice.

We can either choose to take our own thoughts seriously or just let them blow away….

Lindsey Reed is an experienced coach and trainer who enables people to transform their lives and be their best selves. If you would like to work with Lindsey, contact her either by email lindsey@glows-coaching.co.uk or call 01832 280168 for a chat to see if she is the right coach for you.