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mimbrava
"If you're going through hell, keep going."
Winston Churchill
"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."
Helen Keller
Happiness is a state of being that transcends circumstance. It is a choice that we make, not the result of our actions or their outcomes.
Hard times are challenging at best but they are also a great opportunity to get creative. Going green is all about conserving resources.
Challenges are thrust upon us, going green is a willing choice; they are two completely different things that go together like peanut butter and chocolate, perfectly!
Here are some ways to make hard times greener and happier:
- Taking good care of ourselves, balancing cycles of activity and rest helps to improve our overall outlook. Be sure to get enough sleep and exercise. Feeding ourselves and our families simply, well and locally.
- Clean up our home environment, donate and or swap stuff that we are no longer using and give ourselves some breathing room.
- Make shopping rummage sales and flea markets a family ritual.
- Not wasting our resources makes us feel so much better, this economic downturn is the perfect time to recycle, recycle, recycle!
- Stay connected and celebrate community by participating in green events and gatherings. These are wonderful opportunities to share green achievements, inspiration and fun.
- Keep a smile, get cheeky, laugh, have some fun and dance, dance, dance!
- Engaging in personal philanthropy, volunteering or tithing our talents and efforts, is an inexpensive way to make us feel rich.
- Unplug from the big bad news machine and curb your TV watching. Read a book, play a game, take a walk, keep a journal.
"If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." Dalai Lama
How to foster green biodiversity
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Very good stuff as usual Lucy!
I make a point of tithing my time working directly with friends (about 11 hours a week). If I run out of projects, I read. My goal is to be poorly read.
We also try to work with someone over a period of a year or two to help them make a dream come true. This has been enormously rewarding. It doesn't have to be expensive - you really can change someone's life. We prefer working with people directly. (this is just a manifestation of what you are talking about)
We also make, rather than buy, gifts. It takes a few months lead time and there can be real tragedies, but it is from the heart and hands, which is much deeper than from the credit card.
One young person we helped has become a deep friend. She lives in Denmark, lives a very simple life without tv or boredom and is an amazing practical joker. Here are a few posts she wrote as guest posts for another friend:
http://www.6footsix.com/my_weblog/2008/09/go-climb-a-tree...
http://www.6footsix.com/my_weblog/2008/08/jheri-chases-af...
When we first met I told her the best advice I had was from my thesis advisor "don't be afraid to be curious and act your (american" shoe size". She has taken it to heart.
Thanks again for noting the things that really work.
Another
ps
Some time ago we started simplifying our lives. The intention was not to be "green" (I don't consider myself green by any stretch of the imagination), but to simplify by having less "stuff". We have a little 1000 sq ft home that is owned outright. Much lower costs and you can't fill it with stuff like you can a 2000+sq ft home. We buy things that last and can be repaired. Bikes are used locally and car use is planned. There are lots of tricks and many of them might be considered green.
At some point we realized we could easily live on less than half of what we were earning, while our old lifestyle would have us not saving much. This is very liberating and gives you enormous options.
highly recommended
Wife and I live from day to day in a small Shanty by a river. We garden for food, She works at the church, cleaning. I had a few strokes, left me with a disability pension and not much else. I have an adult sized tricycle for long trips, and walk the short ones. We manage to be very happy in a quiet and reserved way. Grandchildren are a joy to us. Every morning I am grateful to be alive. Every evening we thank G d for the dirty dishes we have. Some of the folks we help at the church don't even have dirty dishes. The world of two car garages, McMansions, SUV's, fancy furniture and such is long past us. Our furniture is all paid - it came from the good will! We have CFL lights, all three of them! We like to watch a TV show together, then shut off the power and go to bed. Cold nights, we snuggle under extra blankets. We eat all our left-overs, when we are lucky enough to have them! Life is good! We love every minute of it. We go to church to say thanks for the good week, the pensions, the garden, the river, good friends, and sometimes for the food-bank, when we have needed it. Some folks seem to have so much, they can hardly feel the good that comes from the simple stuff anymore, and hunger in the world of plenty for what they know not! Humility, a full heart, and humbleness are the noble gifts of poverty, worth more to the spirit than all the gifts of riches!