Pulling out the Weeds

By Greg Baer M.D.

February 9, 2015


As I walked around in the backyard the other day—in freezing winter temperatures—I experienced a moment of gratitude that for at least a season I wouldn’t have to manage the prolific growth of weeds that characterizes the warmer months. I sighed, thinking of how many hours over the years I—and my children—have sprayed and pulled weeds.

As I get older I use herbicides more and more, freeing my knees and back from the strain of bending over and pulling the weeds. But some weeds grow in the middle of desirable ground cover or flower beds, so those still have to be pulled.

Long ago I learned that pulling a weed cannot be a slipshod affair. Most weeds have to be pulled out entirely, including all the roots, or they tend to grow back quickly and sometimes even more abundantly.

And so it is with our false beliefs and the unloving feelings and behaviors that follow. If we eliminate just some of our fear, anger, or selfishness, for example, the effect tends to be minimal and short-lived, just as pulling half the root system of a weed is minimally beneficial. Fear, anger, and selfishness tend to proliferate with little conscious effort, like the growth of weeds. If we want to be truly happy in a lasting way, we have to do all we can to root out these unhappy emotional conditions as thoroughly as possible.

Perfection in our efforts is rarely attainable, but if we pursue our task with dedication, we can come increasingly close to complete eradication of all the beliefs and other conditions that interfere with deep and lasting peace.

PCSD

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About the author 

Greg Baer, M.D.

I am the founder of The Real Love® Company, Inc, a non-profit organization. Following the sale of my successful ophthalmology practice I have dedicated the past 25 years to teaching people a remarkable process that replaces all of life's "crazy" with peace, confidence and meaning in various aspects of their personal lives, including parenting, marriages, the workplace and more.

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