We are living in very challenging times. If you watch the news, every sound byte gives us something else to feel awful about. Even if you don't watch the news, the challenges we are facing in our society are everywhere we look.
If we keep looking at all the things we don't like in the world right now, chances are we're going to have a tough time getting out of bed each day and on top of that, since our thoughts manifest pretty quickly these days, we could end up attracting more things that make us unhappy.
So what's a person to do? I'm finding that one of the best things we can do is: Do something
One day I was walking on the beach looking for sea glass and met a nice gal who was picking up trash. As we talked and walked together, I began joining her in picking up every little piece of trash we saw, no matter how small. She inspired me that day to do my part. Rather than sit back and complain about people who don't clean up after themselves or wring my hands and worry about all that trash getting into the ocean and affecting sea life, she showed me that it could be as simple as just picking up the trash you see.
On subsequent beach walks, I have seen her again and she's introduced me to other "trash gatherers" who regularly walk the beach for that purpose. All kind hearted souls who are making a difference, one piece of trash at a time.
So what about the homeless? Does it upset you when you see a homeless person shivering in the cold? You could feel awful about it all night. You could spend some time being angry about all the reasons someone might end up homeless. Or you could give that person something to eat or give them some gloves to help them stay warm. You don't need to get food and gloves for every single homeless person in the world - you can just help that one person. Maybe you don't have the money to buy them something, so what if you just smiled at them? or sent some love from your heart to theirs?
I know sometimes we can get overwhelmed with the breadth and depth of the issues we see. We often feel like the problems are too great and that there is no way we can make a difference ourselves but it doesn't mean we can't do something. If everyone is doing something, no matter how small, collectively, it can add up to some really big positive results.
Finally, back to the topic of trash on the beach, I recently came across a company started by a couple young guys who wanted to start getting plastic out of the ocean and on the coastlines. They needed to raise some money to help their efforts so they began selling beaded bracelets. The bracelets come in different colors to support different marine life (I just got a dolphin bracelet). Each bracelet costs $20 and the profits go towards getting more plastic out of the ocean and disposing of it properly. They say that each bracelet purchased will remove one pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines.
I thought their idea was brilliant . . . not only their goal to cleaning the earth's ocean, 1 pound at a time . . . but the fact that they are giving people an easy way to assist in their effort. Not everyone has time to walk the beach and pick up trash, not everyone lives close enough to the ocean to do it either but for $20 you can support the guys who are doing this and even have a fun bracelet to wear.
If you'd like to learn more and help with their efforts, their website is: www.4ocean.com
Adding on here . . . as I just stumbled across another incredible effort started by a few people who saw a problem and came up with a solution. It's pop-up stores for the homeless. If you are interested, here's a link to their site: http://www.thestreetstore.org
Saturday, January 12, 2019
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