Have We Lost Our Sense of OUTRAGE?

Have we lost our sense of OUTRAGE?

This post came about because I became annoyed by and sick of those who readily and easily make excuses to look the other way!

“We don’t believe in donating $$ due to mismanagement of organizations, we would rather give time and donate items….. oh really?  So when was the last time you gave your time and/or donated items on your own initiative?  Well, it’s difficult, we just don’t have the time!”

You are part of the problem and you don’t even know it.

I thought more about the above quoted excuse and other situations we’ve encountered and I got even more annoyed.

• Do you recycle?   Well, I really want to, but they don’t provide recycling in MY neighborhood.  Oh really, that’s your excuse, that’s all you’ve got?

• Why use plastic plates, cups, spoons, forks,  knives, paper napkins for everything and every occasion?   Yes, we know, it is sooo convenient.  All we have to do is throw it in the trash after.   Have you thought about using regular plates, mugs, glasses, silverware and cloth napkins for your every day lives at home?  After all you don’t have to hand-wash everything like people still do in some other parts of the world– there are dishwashers and washing machines.

• Why do we keep buying plastic bottled water by the cases when we know that there is The Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is twice the size of Texas?   Or maybe you didn’t know, but when others try to tell you about such things you take the ” in one ear, out the other” approach!
  

• Listen to the interview on The Kathleen Show with Marine researcher and explorer who discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Captain Charles Moore The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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• Do you have children?  Are you a parent?  So ask yourselves, do you eat fast food and eat it often and mindlessly even though you know it is bad for you and your kids?    And that’s not all, do you  *laugh* at those parents who don’t make a habit of taking their own children to fast food eateries nor allow junk food 24/7?   Why– when cooking at home maybe a better option for YOUR health and your bank account?     Are we being the role models we think we ought to be to our children?

• Do you have more *stuff* in your home than you can manage? Do you keep buying “things” even though you know that those dollars could be going somewhere else like paying the bills, or into a Roth IRA or savings for rainy days?      Yes, i know, it feels good to impress others with our stuff, or just FEELS good to have that thing just because, even though you don’t need it.

• Do you know exactly how you let your hard-earned $$ slipped right through your fingers— then wonder why you FEEL as though you are struggling financially?

• Do you know where all that precious stuff you love and need so much were made?   Was it via child labor, human rights violations, or  forced labor??

• Do we ever stop and ask ourselves –   WHY? Do we really need that extra pair of shoes when we have 20 in our closet already and 10 of them we haven’t touched in the past 12 months?  Do we really need to buy that overly packaged extra DVD/CD to have  in our possession  when we can easily get it from our public library?

• Don’t we  have enough already? Do we ever have enough?  Why is that?  Where does this behavior and mentality come from?  What are our children learning from these behaviors of ours?

• What do you stand for? ANYTHING,  SOMETHING?  Do you live it and teach it, or just  lip-service  it!?
  

Are you doing something about something?  If so, good for you!   Would you challenge yourself to do more?

If you’re not, doing something about something,  well,  try harder, because you know it is the RIGHT thing to do!

To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. – Confucius

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We seem to over consume with absolutely NO end in sight;  we  allow ourselves to get used to the idea of over-size and super-size!   Ugh  Nauseating!

Best thing to do is to say “NO” but if you have them around like many of us do, here is a link to How To Overcome The Curse of The Plastic Bag

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“To know you have enough is to be rich” ~Tao Te Ching

The above video is not the answer to everything obviously.

However, is it  a beginning of something to get you thinking even more to DO something, anything in YOUR life?   Will it move you to  TAKE ACTION today?

What  positive action have  you decided to take?   Whatever it is, make it part of your  BHAG in 2010 and BEYOND!

Message to Emma:  Be mindful of your everyday consumption habits.   We all make an impact, little and small.