There will come a day when we realize that most of the things we spend our energy and resources on don’t really matter at all. I don’t know when, but I know this day will come. A family member will get cancer, a loved one will die, a child will get sick, a natural disaster will shake our world...and in the midst of something we don’t think we can handle, we will catch a brief glimpse of another world; one in which priorities are based on eternity, not on temporary comfort or gain. Why, in our “civilized” world does it always take a tragedy to shake us in to being AWAKE to life? Why can we not just CHOOSE to adopt that perspective each day?
We take so much for granted in this society. Clean water, health, safety, peace, abundance of food, education...the list goes on and on and is made up of things that the majority of the population of this world does NOT have. However, since we have to worry about something, we use our energy to combat cellulite on our bodies, depletion of our bank accounts, weeds in our yards, dirt on our cars and boredom in our lives. We have eradicated all “natural” causes of death in our society that other countries in the world are plagued (literally) by – there is no polio, malaria, small pox, wide-spread starvation here. So we’ve replaced those too with “lifestyle” causes of death – heart disease from eating processed, fatty foods and not being physically active or lung cancer from continuing to smoke when we are 100% sure that it will result in death. We create a crisis when none actually exist.
I do it too. Every day. The things I spend my time and energy on are seldom things that have any eternal value. If I could get back every minute of time and ounce of emotional energy I spent worrying about being “fat” or go back and do all the things I chose not to do because of that, I’d probably be living a quarter of my life over again. Couple that with all the time I have spent fretting over my house being clean, the laundry being done and who knows how much time I’d have to spend on things that REALLY matter: loving my family, following GOD’s plan for my life, making this world a better place to live and ENJOYING this life while I have it.
There is SO MUCH to do in this world – life to be lived and enjoyed and work to be done. God put all this beauty here for us to enjoy and yet we sit in our climate controlled houses and watch other people travel on TV. We have been given the resources, as individuals and as a nation, to help people and help the world and yet the most involved we ever get is reading the news and saying “how sad, someone should do something”.
Well, what ELSE are you doing with your time and energy and resources that is so important? Why not US? Why not NOW? I know I am not going to get to the end of my life and wish I would have done more laundry, been a size 6, pulled more weeds or had a nicer house. I am going to wish with all my soul that I would have told my family I loved them more, been out in God’s nature as often as I could have, given more to help those in need, and left the planet a better place then I found it.
I want to believe that the choice is ours and that we CAN live this way with out waiting for something terrible to shake our core. It is about making the best possible choice you can at every moment. Not just the “best” for you, but the best for the world. One question can be your guide: Is this the best use of the resources I have been given? Resources like time, energy, money, strength, love, compassion...are not to be wasted. If I chose to spend my morning being depressed about being what I think is overweight - is that solving ANYHTING? If I see a story about global warming and think “oh well, I can’t do anything to help” – are things ever going to change?
I was reading a book by the Dali Lama recently and he spoke to the issue of worry and problems. He said, “If the solution to the problem is such that it can be remedied, then there is no need to worry about it.” The appropriate action is to seek solution. To me this means if I am faced with a problem and I know there is a solution, I am to take action – take the next logical step towards resolution. Alternately, the Dali Lama said, “if there is not way out, no solution, no possibility of resolution, then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you can’t do anything about it anyway.” Simple, right? Sure it is...until you TRY IT.
Most of the problems we face, personally or collectively, have a solution. That is what is amazing about us humans – we have been given the ability to effect our world. Unfortunately, this means our impact may be positive OR negative. Either way, we are powerful and must use the resources given us to do the most good. DO THE MOST GOOD. Try it. With each choice you make ask yourself if you are using the resources you have been given to do the most good – for your self, your family, your community, the planet. I think you’ll find that there is much, much less to worry about.
(I’ll try it too)
