October 5 is the national day to do something nice, and after weeks of tragedy and deaths from gun violence and hurricane suffering we need a break. So today get out and smile, be pleasant to everyone you see!
Do something nice for the earth also. Avoid plastic, pick up trash, buy organic, go meatless, leave your car at home, and walk or take the bus. Do something Nice!
“Imagine a world where humankind lives in harmony, not only with itself but also with other forms of life, in balance with the planet’s resources. Imagine the world as you would like it to be.” Steve Wilbers
Imagine clean water and clean air
Writing coach, Steve Wilbers is imagining the world as he would like it to be. Can you imagine how powerful it would be if everyone held a vision of kindness, and imagined a world of kindness. Powerful!
His suggestions are timely: Write a thank you note, blog, write a letter to a newspaper. Read his article here. Write about your passions, your images of how the world should be. Speak out, write, and make the world a better place!
“You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will be as one”
The year ahead is impossible to predict. As with every year, many unknowns lie ahead. Most of us like being in control, and the unknowns are scary. What can we control in 2017? How we treat other people, and how we treat the earth are things we can control. What kinds of kindness can we spread?
“A climatarian is somebody who chooses their food with the climate in mind and, in particular, replaces beef and lamb with pork or poultry to cut their carbon footprint by a ton a year.” http://climatesnetwork.com/index.php
Reducing your beef consumption is huge, but to me being a climatarian is much more. A climatarian thinks of the climate every step of the day! A climatarian also buys local, reduces their food waste, and reduces energy used in cooking. All this is easy to make part of a terrific Thanksgiving meal!
To me being a climatarian also means reducing energy for shopping trips. It is more difficult to walk or take public transportation to shop, but everyone can combine their car errands and leave out an ingredient instead of driving to get that one item!
A few weeks ago I wrote how stressful the American election was for everyone. The post-election has been even more stressful. The surprise results, disrespect for diversity, uncertainty and anger have been difficult for my circle of people. Today is World Kindness Day which makes me think of my late mother. She was a role model for being kind in everything she did.
Change and uncertainty are scary. We have lost control of our futures and the future of our earth. With all the verbal garbage of the past year no one has a vision of what the future holds. Today as I read the conservative views in the newspaper, I felt they were uncertain and scared also.
We love the diversity of our choices
Diversity is so important whether you are talking about people, ideas, plants, foods, wildlife, everything. Mono-cultures can’t survive. They are not sustainable. Does anyone want to live in a world where only one kind of plant or tree grows? A world where we eat only one food? What if every dog was exactly the same? What if everyone thought exactly the same, and golf was the only sport to play? How boring!! I know this is silly, but it is diversity that makes life interesting. Diversity makes our freedoms and choices important, we are not all alike.
The uncertainty will not go away, but we can all be more kind. This week I plan to smile more, criticize less, listen better, and appreciate the diversity of our human family and diversity of our earth, and ….
“The moral of the story is this: be kind to people, and encourage kindness when you see it. After the horrible, hurtful things that have been said in this election cycle, we absolutely need more empathy and compassion in this world—no matter what our nationality is.” Sherina Harrris
Sherina is a gifted freshman in college. Her blog site is above