How often are we presented with the same old quotations, messages, statements and cliches....we've heard & read them over and over again. They come to us in emails and we forward them on to others, we hear them in sermons and forget them before we get in our car to go to lunch, we read them on tee-shirts, bumper stickers or billboards, never stopping to ponder how significant they really are. We are great consumers of information....gathering bits here and pieces there, tucking them away for a rainy day....or for some time when we "aren't so busy" or "when the kids get older" or "when I have enough money"...."I'll get to that some day." Many of us are running on the treadmill of life- running really fast but always staying in the same place. Have you ever tried to get off of a moving treadmill? As a runner, I can tell ya', it's pretty hard and can be pretty ugly if you don't plan your escape just right. And....so, some day never comes because we're too afraid of looking foolish by hurling ourselves free of the moving machine.
Up until a couple of years ago I was an information consumer extraordinaire. I had it all down.... how to be healthy, happy and content for the rest of your life....and I wasn't DOING any of it. As I sat one day, having a grand pity party for myself (all that was missing was the cocktail dress), playing the blame game about what everybody else had done to make me so unhappy, one of those nice little familiar quotes came to me: "Be the change you want to see in the world." Gandhi was a smart dude.
For once, I listened....I pondered....I put it in my pipe and smoked it....I simmered on it....I chewed it....I swallowed and digested it- those silly little words became my mantra for life. Don't change the world around you....change yourself! Don't blame the world around you....blame yourself! Don't save the world around you.....save yourself!
Our world is in dire need of radical change. I believe that organic & sustainable farming is one of the ways we can save the planet. I buy as much local food as possible. I support Gary, my USDA certified organic farmer, and work to help promote and increase his business. I rarely eat factory farmed meat- including fish. I never buy food (or anything else as much as possible) from Wal-mart or other chains that regulary import tainted food from China. I reject food that has been genetically modified or irradiated. I no longer use a microwave. I have dramatically reduced the amount of plastic we use in our house. I have almost eliminated chemically based cleaning supplies & personal care products. I am mindful of the choices I make in all aspects of my life- what I eat, what I wear, what I read, whom I support with my dollars, what I think, who I am friends with, what I speak. It is my desire to educate others so I continue to educate myself. Be the change.
Up until a couple of years ago I was an information consumer extraordinaire. I had it all down.... how to be healthy, happy and content for the rest of your life....and I wasn't DOING any of it. As I sat one day, having a grand pity party for myself (all that was missing was the cocktail dress), playing the blame game about what everybody else had done to make me so unhappy, one of those nice little familiar quotes came to me: "Be the change you want to see in the world." Gandhi was a smart dude.
For once, I listened....I pondered....I put it in my pipe and smoked it....I simmered on it....I chewed it....I swallowed and digested it- those silly little words became my mantra for life. Don't change the world around you....change yourself! Don't blame the world around you....blame yourself! Don't save the world around you.....save yourself!
Our world is in dire need of radical change. I believe that organic & sustainable farming is one of the ways we can save the planet. I buy as much local food as possible. I support Gary, my USDA certified organic farmer, and work to help promote and increase his business. I rarely eat factory farmed meat- including fish. I never buy food (or anything else as much as possible) from Wal-mart or other chains that regulary import tainted food from China. I reject food that has been genetically modified or irradiated. I no longer use a microwave. I have dramatically reduced the amount of plastic we use in our house. I have almost eliminated chemically based cleaning supplies & personal care products. I am mindful of the choices I make in all aspects of my life- what I eat, what I wear, what I read, whom I support with my dollars, what I think, who I am friends with, what I speak. It is my desire to educate others so I continue to educate myself. Be the change.
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