Climate Change and Inspiration

Our creative power is an awesome gift. There is no other animal on this planet that has the creative power to manipulate their environment the way that we can.

Along with that creative power, we have free will which enables us to exercise tremendous power over our environment. One one extreme, we can choose to use our power to be of service to one another and make the world a better place. On the other extreme, we can choose to use that power to pursue our selfish desires and make the world a worse place to live for everyone, including ourselves.

Most of us live somewhere in between those extremes, but the fact remains that most scientific evidence regarding climate change suggests that we will all need to shift our habits in the direction of environmental stewardship in order to avoid potentially catastrophic changes.

The problem for many of us is that it appears overwhelming to look at this global issue and imagine what we can do to make a difference. The fact is, we already are making a difference. Each one of us has an impact on the health of this planet, and each one of us is capable of changing the direction of that impact.

The good news is, most of the actions that we, as individuals, can take to have a positive impact on this issue are actions that are good for our own health, budget and/or level of inspiration. Here is a list of a few of those actions:

• Drive Less - Bike, Walk or Jog More. Emissions from our cars is the second largest contributor to climate change. By biking, walking or jogging to places we would have otherwise driven, we are improving our own physical health, saving ourselves the cost of gas and vehicle wear and tear, and reducing carbon emissions in our atmosphere.
• Make Your Home More Energy Efficient. By using compact florescent bulbs, sealing leaky windows and keeping appliances in good repair, we can save ourselves energy costs, make our homes less drafty and more comfortable, and reduce the amount of coal being burned.
• Eat Healthier Foods. Reducing meats and packaged foods and adding locally grown foods, fresh fruits and vegetables will boost our bodies energy levels, help us feel and look healthier, save money and significantly reduce the environmental impact of our diets. Processing, packaging and shipping foods is a resource intensive process. Domesticating and raising animals for consumption is many times more resource intensive than raising crops for human consumption.
• Take Care of Your Stuff. The more products we buy, the more manufacturing, packaging and transportation activities have to occur. The more products we throw away, the more resources have to be spent to manage our trash. When we maintain and take good care of our belongings, especially larger, more expensive items, such as cars and appliances, the more we can rely on them, the more money we can save and the less products will have to be manufactured, packaged and transported on our behalf.

Whether we recognize our responsibility for our impact on this planet or not, the fact remains: we do have an impact. We can change that impact into a more positive one while improving our own lives and the lives of others by being conscious of that impact and making positive changes.

To read more about climate change and what you can do to help resolve this global issue, check out the Blog Action Day site. This is one of 7700+ blogs articles to be written on this topic today, and that number is expected to grow throughout the day [12,000]. If you’re a blogger and you want to participate, it’s not too late to sign up.

• How did your life get to where it is today?
• What forces were at work?
• What forces will change your life in the coming years?
• What will those changes look like?

How we answer the first three questions will have a profound impact on the answer to the last question. There are two main types of forces that we can focus on: internal forces and external forces. Internal forces are those things within us: our thoughts, choices and actions. External forces are those things outside of us: circumstances, the actions of others, etc. The main distinction is that internal forces are those things over which we have control, and external forces are those over which we have little or no control.

Chances are, our lives became what they are today because of a combination of these two types of forces. However, it is almost always the case that the internal forces have the greatest impact by far. Our thoughts, choices and actions are not only capable of directly shaping our lives, but they also influence the external forces to which we are exposed.

There is tremendous power in this realization. As I had written as step 2 in How to Change Who You Are:

Realize that the life that you have today has developed into what it is because of your thoughts, choices and actions. This is an empowering realization as what naturally follows is the realization that you have the power to build the life you want tomorrow based on your thoughts, choices and actions today.

How To Take Control Of Your Life

By focusing on those things that are within our control, we are able to focus our energy where it really matters, rather than wasting our energy on things outside of our control. Here is a list of ideas on how to maintain that focus and exercise control over our lives:

• Avoid blaming other people, institutions, circumstances, society, etc. for your conditions. This will leave you powerless. Even if you feel you have been wronged by someone else’s mistakes, carelessness or ill intent, focusing on their part will only weaken you. Look at what you can do to fix the wrong and prevent it from happening in the future.
• Don’t waste your time and energy waiting for or expecting political, social or economic change to make your life better. As individuals, we have little influence on these things. We can each do our part to change the world, but we have to be prepared for a result that is not aligned with our values or desires. Other people will have different values, desires and points of view that may influence the world in a different direction. When we shift our focus on the power we have, we usually find that the political, social or economic issues we may feel compelled to change are not as significant in our day to day life as the things we do have control over, such as our relationships, spiritual growth, the message we share with others, etc. And in that way, we can usually do much more to change the world.
• Always look for and own up to your part in any conflict. It is your responsibility to take ownership for your part in a conflict. It is not your responsibility to identify the parts others play in a conflict. That is the their responsibility whether they choose to take it or not. When you identify your roll, you identify your influence over the situation and empower yourself to make change happen.
• Practice gratitude. The simple act of gratitude helps us identify our desires that are being fulfilled, and in doing so, we identify our power to multiply those desires. Gratitude puts us in a positive frame of mind which motivates, energizes and propels us toward our desires.

As the world continues to change and our lives inevitably continue to change with it, our power to shape those changes is rooted in our willingness to take responsibility for our own lives and to recognize our own power. God did not place us here as powerless beings to helplessly drift with the changes. Like God, we are creators. We create our own lives, and our creation has a ripple effect throughout the universe. Whether you choose to take responsibility for it or not, your presence is changing the universe. It’s up to you to decide to direct that change by taking responsibility for the state of your life or to deny that responsibility and allow your power to drift haphazardly.

Practicing humility makes us teachable, and therefore wiser. It makes us better listeners and therefore more valuable friends. It allows us to examine ourselves and our personal traits without shame or judgment. It helps us get to know ourselves like never before. And, it opens up our hearts to the voice of God.

Humility is required to take the first step in my previous post, How to Change Who You Are:

Take responsibility for your actions as actions, not as a definition of who you are. This allows you to make objective, non-judgmental observations of yourself that lead to motivated activities rather than paralysis from shame.

What is humility?

Oxford American Dictionary defines humility as “a modest or low view of one’s own importance.” When we talk about humility as a spiritual principle, we’re talking about developing an honest, accurate and objective view of our importance in the universe. We might say that, through humility, we are developing an understanding of God’s view of us as individuals.

Humility is not low self-esteem. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. With humility, our self-esteem is not attached to our personal traits, physical appearance, wealth, shortcomings, assets or our past. Instead it is attached to the design of our creator who created us with a purpose and gives us the power to fulfill that purpose. With humility, we view ourselves as equals with other human beings.

Someone who practices humility rarely feels insecure or self-conscious. They unflinchingly take credit for that which they are responsible and give credit for that which they are not. Their self-esteem is stable and they are secure with who they are. They feel no need for competition. They learn from the opinions of others, but are not shaken by them.

How to be humble

• Be grateful for your assets. In humility, we recognize the great qualities and assets that we have, but we don’t boast about them. Instead, we are grateful for them as gifts we have been given. Think about all the things you like about yourself and those things others like about you. Do you have intelligence, motivation, charm or some other great qualities? Express gratitude for those qualities and you will find humility.
• Be grateful for your challenges and shortcomings. If you struggle with feeling that you are less motivated, less attractive or less intelligent than others, be grateful for the perspective and learning experience that apparent shortcoming offers you. Life is about growth and change. Every challenge we face builds our character and our assets. When we express gratitude for the challenges we face, those challenges lose their power over our perception of ourselves and become building blocks we can grow on.
• Do not compare yourself with others. Human Beings are the most diverse and variable creatures on the planet. Comparing one person to another is like comparing apples to green beans. It is this uniqueness that allows us to learn and grow from one another. You were created like no one else in the universe. You were created with a purpose that is shared with no one else. When you compare yourself with someone else, you could not possibly see what God sees in you.
• Be teachable. The key to wisdom is to be teachable, to realize that you do not know everything, that many things you believe to be true may be false, and that you have much to learn from others. See my posts, Be Teachable - Avoid Growing Old and Stubborn and Hold Beliefs Loosely, for more on this topic.
• Practice kindness anonymously. When you practice kindness, you transcend the high-anxiety world of selfishness and experiencing the fulfilling sense of oneness with others. When you practice kindness anonymously, you share the vision of your kindness only with God without the distractions of pride and self-importance which may result from sharing your kindness publicly.
• Loosen your expectations. No matter how good you are at making plans or predicting outcomes, no matter how strong your belief is that something should be a certain way, life will often produce results you did not expect or did not want. When we hold tight to expectations, we become easily frustrated, disappointed, angry and humiliated. When we take ourselves and our expectations less seriously, we can more easily handle what life hands us and move out of God’s way as we are guided on our unique life journey.

This may drain our hope and inspiration and, worst of all, fill us with shame about who we are. Shame drains our motivation and leads to self-loathing. And, if we loath ourselves, why would we want to do anything good for someone we loath?

Taking The First Step

The first step to changing who you are is to realize that you can’t. …So, why am I writing about changing who we are if it can’t be done? Because, I’m hoping to change your perspective. What we really need to change is not who we are but what we do.

This may seem like an irrelevant, semantic distinction, but when we define who we are by our behaviors, we present ourselves with a huge barrier. For instance, if I define myself as a slacker, I have to become someone who I am not in order to become motivated. If I, instead, recognize myself as a good person with potential to change and grow who struggles with motivation, then I can face the struggle instead of trying to work against my identity.

Another obstacle we face when identifying ourselves with our behavior is that it becomes a difficult, and possibly humiliating, process just to face the truth about our responsibility in our life situations. We may make excuses about why we’re not exercising everyday because we don’t want to experience the pain of identifying ourselves as lazy or wimpy. Instead, we can simply face the objective truth that we have not made exercise a priority, and then we gain the power to examine and change our priorities.

If I Am Not What I Do, What Am I?

One way to get a glimpse of who we are is to look at our morals, values and motivations. These can help define who we are and what we can achieve and are often at odds with how we actually behave. But, on the surface, even these things can change over time. We don’t usually make a conscious decision to change our values, rather they change over time with experience.

The unchanging definition of who we are lies within our hearts. Each of us has a deep inner voice, or spirit, which guides our thoughts and decisions when we choose to listen. It is when we choose not to listen that we find ourselves confused and discontented with who we are.

Steps to Long Lasting Change

1. Take responsibility for your actions as actions, not as a definition of who you are. This allows you to make objective, non-judgmental observations of yourself that lead to motivated activities rather than paralysis from shame. See How To Practice Humility for more on this topic.
2. Realize that the life that you have today has developed into what it is because of your thoughts, choices and actions. This is an empowering realization as what naturally follows is the realization that you have the power to build the life you want tomorrow based on your thoughts, choices and actions today. The alternative to this is to blame other people, circumstances, society, etc. for your conditions which leaves you powerless. Of course, there are often circumstances beyond your control which influence your life, but by focusing on your own influence you find the power to change. See Take Charge of Your Life for more on this topic.
3. Examine your morals and values to make sure that the changes you are planning to make fit in with your motivations and priorities. Every choice you make requires you to sacrifice one thing for another. Sometimes that sacrifice is negligible; sometimes it’s significant. By consciously choosing the sacrifices you make, rather than saying, “I’ll figure it out somehow,” you’ll be much less likely to go back on your choices or lose motivation.
4. Share your plans with others who will support your decision to change. This is especially helpful if shared with others who are making or have made similar changes. It may also help to avoid sharing with others who may not be supportive until you have achieved some success. The value of having supportive friends and associates can scarcely be overestimated. If you find it difficult to find supportive people within your physical community, find a community online.
5. Celebrate your milestones and practice gratitude. It’s more helpful to celebrate time-based milestones as opposed to trying to measure changes you’ve made. For instance, if you have decided to improve your physical health and are focused on, say, 10 pounds of weight loss, you may be frustrated and discouraged if it takes longer than expected or if you gain back some of what you’ve lost. Instead try focusing on 30 days of healthy eating and/or improved physical activity for instance.
6. Re-evaluate your commitments regularly to assure that your behaviors stay inline with your personal morals, values and priorities. Recommit to and/or adjust choices you’ve made. Practice self-discipline at times when you forget why you are doing what you are doing.
7. Once you have achieves some success, help others to do the same by sharing your experience with them. Nothing solidifies a successful change like sharing your success with another person. This type of service will remind you of your own commitment and perpetuate gratitude for the changes you’ve made as you see others struggle to make the same changes. However, be cautious of becoming preoccupied with the success of others since not everyone will achieve the same success you have.

Religious texts often focus on mundane details about the food we eat, the cloths we wear, the length of our hair, the way we pray or worship, or how to act on particular days of the week or calendar day. Cultural changes and the evolution of language make it especially difficult to translate and interpret the context and meaning of texts written thousands of years ago.

Many theologians and religious scholars devote their entire lives to interpreting the meaning of religious texts. Yet, we still face uncertainties and ambiguities which often fuel divisiveness and conflict between and within religious groups.

So, what happens if we miss something? What if something gets misinterpreted in translation? What if we follow the wrong denomination or sect? Will God condemn us? Will we fail to receive the full benefits of our relationship with God? If so, it seems that God’s gifts are available to very few.

Love: A Common Theme

A lone, wild daisy in the rough.

A common theme that appears in nearly every religion is that to live God’s will, we must live in love. All of the confusing and seemingly arbitrary rules exist to keep us inline with the principles of love. When the thoughts and action of our lives are a reflection of our love for God, ourselves and each other, we will be living God’s will.

Jesus Christ’s Apostle, Paul, repeats this theme multiple times:

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

When we truly love others, naturally, we will not rob, kill or harm them in any way. Our actions will be charitable. And, our hearts will be fulfilled, thus removing any tendency toward materialism, greed or judgment.

The Buddha stated that one who removes barriers to love and lives in love has no need for rules or laws. Their behavior would be naturally virtuous:

All rule and ritual left behind, all
karma blamable and praiseworthy, not
concerning himself with cleansing nor
with stains may one freely fare.

A Course In Miracles takes this a step further by asserting that God and Love are synonymous. And, since we were created by God, God’s love exists in us. We need only remove the barriers to love and we are one with God:

God is but love, and therefore, so am I.

We were born with the ability to recognize good and bad. The need for rules and rituals exists only when we are distracted from our hearts. Most rules of religion aim to remove these distractions. By living in accordance with the principles of love, we can simplify our search for God’s will and know that we are manifesting what God wants.

When we communicate with our God on a regular basis, we begin to think about our wants and needs as they might appear through the eyes of God. We review our challenges and struggles with the best listener in the universe. We can’t help but gain greater consciousness of God’s presence in our lives. And therefore, our faith strengthens.

Faith is the foundation of all miracles. It inspires us to accomplishment. It motivates us to face challenges we might otherwise fear. Fear is, by far, the greatest obstacle that stands between who we are and who we want to be. Faith squashes fear, and regular prayer intensifies faith.

Thoughtful, Sincere Prayer

Reciting a memorized prayer before going to bed each night is better than not praying at all and has some benefits. But, thoughtful, sincere prayer puts us in a conscious conversations with our God, and like any other relationship, our relationship with God grows with good communication.

We don’t pray to God to inform Him of our needs and desires. God is already aware of our desires and knows what we need. We pray to God to express and reinforce our gratitude and our willingness to hear God’s will and to prepare ourselves for God’s guidance.

The Benefits of Prayer

People who pray regularly live longer, get sick less frequently, heal from illness more rapidly and experience lower stress levels than those who do not pray regularly.

Additionally, prayer …

• … builds faith.
• … keeps us in contact with a God who loves us consistently and will not die or leave us.
• … helps us find direction and purpose.
• … builds courage.
• … builds humility.
• … helps keep our spiritual actions focused.
• … strengthens our motivation.
• … arouses inspiration.

There are not many things in life that offer so much for such little effort.

Consequently, I lived in misery. My obsession to fulfill my desires with immediate bliss did nothing but drain happiness and bliss from my life. My family and friends who loved me found that their love was squandered.

Anyone who has lived with or loved an active addict knows that addiction brings nothing but pain and misery for everyone in or near the addicts path. Addiction is a void that consumes everything it touches.

The addict lives on the extreme selfish end of a continuum between selfishness and selflessness. Consequently, they live in misery and bring misery to anyone they touch.

On the other end of this continuum are those who live in service to others: those who give what they can give and ask for little or nothing in return. People who spend their energy and efforts letting go of their own desires are the ones who find themselves living in bliss.

Most of us live somewhere in between these extremes. We fit giving and service into our lives wherever we can, and we spend the rest of our time chasing our desires. Yet, the irony applies to us all. Just as the miserable drug addict feebly chases pleasure, the more we focus and obsess over our desires, the more misery we find in our lives. And, as we let go of our desires and offer ourselves in selfless service to others and to our God, the more pleasure and bliss we find in our lives.

My path through drug addiction to a meaningful life of spiritual growth has made this dichotomy clear. Being of service to others is one of the most significant actions I can take to not only relinquish the pain and misery of addiction, but also to bring joy and meaning to my life that surpasses anything that I would have every thought possible.

The path of selfishness is anything but self-serving. Rather, it leads to self-loathing, which leads to self-destruction and desperation, which in turn, leads to deeper selfishness.

The path of selflessness is not sacrificial. It is the path of fulfillment and bliss.

Here are five ideas on how to be inspired voters:

1. Practice Tolerance

The core of our political stance lies in our values and beliefs. Our values define what is important to us, and our beliefs shape our perception of truth. Our values and beliefs are as unique as our fingerprints. To be intolerant of one another’s values and beliefs is as silly as being intolerant of one another’s fingerprints.

To be tolerant, it is not necessary to like or even understand each others views, but only to accept that they are different.

Remember, we can not change each other’s values, we can only reinforce them, often by driving a wedge in our relationships with others.

2. Maintain Perspective

In our personal, day-to-day lives, our relationships with others add much more richness and purpose to our lives than the outcome of any election. Yet, political disagreements have the power to strain family relationships and destroy friendships.

Sometimes it’s easy to become annoyed and hypersensitive when others are bashing our political beliefs, but when put into perspective, differences in political opinion need not take on any more importance in our relationships than differences in food tastes, musical preferences or favorite colors.

3. Practice Acceptance

Acceptance is the key to peace, serenity and freedom. Our power as voters has limits. We can each cast one vote and have no power over how others choose to vote. When we realize this, we free ourselves from futile attempts to change things we can not change, and we are free to use that power elsewhere.

Be prepared for any outcome. It may or may not be the case that the majority of voters hold our values and beliefs. That’s the nature of Democracy.

4. Forget about Heroes and Villains

Despite the mudslinging and candidate bashing claims we hear, both Obama and McCain have a deep love for their country and outstanding leadership abilities. They would not have gotten as far as they have without these things. Additionally, they have both …

• … made silly mistakes.
• … done amazing things for this country.
• … spread misleading rumors about their opponents.
• … solved problems together as Senators.
• … received huge sums of money from lobbyists.
• … received strong grass roots support.

The significant difference between the candidates is how they propose to deal with the issues our country faces. There’s only one question we need to answer when we cast our vote.
Who is going to lead us through the issues our country is facing in a way I agree with most?

5. Be Educated and Vote

Here are a few sites to learn where the candidates stand on the issues they believe are important. Focus on what they say about themselves, not each other.

• Policy Issues - Obama
• Policy Issues -  McCain
• A fairly objective Presidential Election 2008 FAQ.

However, it is important to understand that the practice of gratitude does not require that we ignore or deny true feelings of pain or abandon our human emotions. Even when life is lived with inspiration and the best spiritual intentions, grief, suffering and pain still exist.

On the other hand, experiencing grief, suffering and pain does not require that we abandon gratitude. It is possible to experience pain and gratitude at the same time. It is possible to express gratitude through tears.

Here are 7 ideas to help us maintain gratitude during hard times:

1. Don’t be afraid to cry. No one likes to cry. But often a good cry leaves us feeling refreshed and clears our perception.
2. Spend time with people who care about you. Suffering alone can be overwhelming and blinding. Sharing our suffering with others helps us keep a balanced perspective and lessens the pain.
3. Spend some time alone, too. Quiet, uninterrupted moments of solitude can be calming and can help us build our relationship with God. But, if while alone, you begin feeling overwhelmed or stuck, reach out to a friend.
4. Write. Writing helps us get a clear picture of any disturbances in our thoughts. It also helps us make conscious choices about where we want to focus our thoughts.
5. Pray and meditate. Through prayer and meditation, we build our relationship with God and cultivate hope.
6. Be of service. When we help others, we get out of ourselves.
7. Seek God’s guidance. Remember that much of our pain comes from a misalignment between our will and the will of God. We are human, and we will find ourselves in conflict with God’s will from time to time. When we find ourselves trying to change things we can not change, latching on to material possessions or living in greed or selfishness, we are often met with pain and misery. But, when we practice aligning our will with God’s will through service, selflessness, prayer and meditation, we will find more joy and contentment.

The solution is self-discipline. Self-discipline is a scary word for some of us. This is because it is often misunderstood. Self-discipline is not about forcing ourselves to do what we don’t want to do. That type of discipline can only sustain us for a finite amount of time. And even worse, it often leads us to resent our own goals and visions.

The self-discipline I’m referring to comes from having faith in ourselves. It’s remembering that we set a goal that once inspired us. It’s trusting that our inspiration was well-founded and that it will motivate us again once self-discipline gets things moving again.

When motivation fails, don’t kick yourself in the butt. Have faith in yourself instead.