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We are the drops that fill the ocean
AFTER Christmas is over, and the pies and the ham and the chocolates have all been thankfully dispatched, you sometimes find a present that you hadn't noticed.
This happened to me. I had received a parcel from a cousin which contained two books. I was delighted about this, as I love to read, but I had paid scant attention to them as there was simply no time to read or take in much else.
Now that the house is empty of extras once again, and January is well on its way, I have taken some time to re-examine my non perishable stash! One of the books is called "The Kite-Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.
This is a book I have already read, but really want to read again, as it is wonderful and sad and spellbinding. It is set in Afghanistan and gives an insight into that ancient country during one of its quieter phases.
The other book is called "Change The World 9 to 5". In it there are many small, yet effective ways that one can make a difference in this world.
All this week I have been listening to experts giving very good reasons why we simply have to change our way of living, if the planet is going to be any kind of place for our children and grandchildren to live.
There simply isn't a spare planet parked along side ready to be hopped onto when we have worn this one out. What to do?
What can ordinary people like you and me do to make this world a better place? Mahatma Gandhi said that: "We must be the change we want to see in the world". How to be the change rather than moaning about how awful the world is.
Here are some facts for you to think about. See if your answers to these questions are yes or no.
- Does your home have something other than a dirt floor?
- Does your home have a roof, a door, windows and more than one room?
- Do you have a refrigerator of any kind?
- Do you have a car, a microwave, a T.V., a computer and a video or DVD?
If you answered yes to the first you are in the top 50% of the world's wealthy. If yes to the second, you are in the top 20%. Yes to the third, you are in the top 5% and yes to the fourth, then you are in the top 1%.
Quite an amazing statistic, as I'm guessing that anyone reading this would not imagine that they were in that category. I'm willing to bet that there are many times that you have felt hard up and poor; perhaps wanting something that you can't quite afford.
But when you read that statistic, you really do realise the total imbalance that there is between the world's rich and the world's poor.
But it is the rich who are doing most of the damage to the planet, with our culture of waste and wanting more.
As third-world countries catch up, how can we possibly tell them that they can't have what we have, because it damages the planet.
No, we have to take the lead. And we can only do that if we start with ourselves in small ways. Recycling is a fantastic start, but there are hundreds of ways that we can make a difference right in our own back yard. This little book is full of such ideas and some of them are ridiculously simple. I'll give you a few examples.
Share your car, support small businesses, give up some of your spare time, smile when you answer the phone, or pass someone in the street, buy Fairtrade coffee, buy fruit and vegetables in season, offer to take someone else's bottles to the bottle bank, and take up yoga or tai chi or some kind of exercise.
Please don't think for one minute that I do all of these things, I don't. I know I could do so much more, but for a long time I really did believe that it didn't really matter what I did - how could one little person make a difference? Then I heard a story about someone questioning Mother Teresa about her work with the homeless in India.
"Surely Mother, the work you are doing is but a drop in the ocean?"
"Yes" said the wise one, "But isn't the ocean made up of drops?" Of course it is, and everything we do, say or think has an impact somewhere, somehow.
This weekend at the Burn we had a group of Link Volunteers preparing to set off to India or China, to help out in schools for six months.
Not only will they see and experience cultures completely alien to them, they will get the chance to really make a difference in the lives of the children that they work with.
For the most part the volunteers are school leavers from all over Scotland. They will be changed young people when they get back, but it is our hope that they will understand and care for this planet that we all live on.
They can be the change, but so can we. We don't have to go anywhere or do very much. Remember it is drops that fill up the ocean!
- Jo Middlemiss is a Personal Life Coach. She lives and works in Edzell and can be contacted on (01356) 648 329.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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