Sustainable Tarpon Springs - Be the Change

This morning as I was ‘taking the public pulse’ (via Facebook), there seemed to be many more discouraging stories about Monsanto, GMOs, drought, bee colony collapse disorder, and generally destructive behaviors than I’ve seen in awhile.  I was nearly distracted enough to repost these stories and continue the ‘gloom and doom’ view of our collective future - but fortunately, I paused to consider the effect.

It is challenging to keep one’s eyes on the kind of world we hope to see, especially in the face of corruption, lobbyist powers, corporate agendas, and panicky posts from friends who are all too aware.  Honestly, I’m not a Pollyanna about what is going on - but at the point of near death two years ago, I realized I had a choice about what world I could ‘tune into.’  We all have that choice.  We can either be obsessed with the apparent evil, or be focused on the endless possibilities for good.

I made my choice two years ago.  I switched my internet opening page from the news to WikiHow - ‘How to Be Patient’.  I needed major cognitive restructuring in order to find balance, better mental health, and physical wellness.  This ‘switch’ was made for my personal sustainability.  

Considering how radical my internal transformation has been, I can have hope about anything changing now.  Changing myself was a major feat, yet it has occurred in a relatively short time.

I become a ‘parable of possibility’ for the potential of changing anything and everything.  And I’ve clearly come to know how powerful a change of ‘consciousness’ is in creating a new paradigm.  As Einstein said, ‘We cannot solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.’  It’s simply time to break the old mold, and think outside of the box.

Einstein also observed later in his life that ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’  I absolutely believe this to be true.  If all of our focus is directed at the things that are wrong with our world, how can we keep our minds open to the creative possibilities that will shift us into a new direction.  

Fighting against, even the most destructive aspects of what is ‘wrong’, is not as powerful as our vision for what is ‘right’.  In fact, the more preoccupied we are with what is wrong, the less mental energy we have for bold, new creative solutions.  

I am not advocating that we bury our heads in the sand either.  I am advocating that we spend more time and energy thinking of an alternative, very sustainable world - in contrast to the time we spend in fear of our dying world.  If ‘we are what we eat’, the same principle applies to what we feed our minds.

We all get knocked off balance occasionally, and this has been a challenging week for me, witnessing some backwards movement in regards to sustainability.  Do we wait for every person to embrace a lasting vision for our planet?  I think not!  Now is the time for us to be our own heroes - and as Mahatma Gandhi advocated, ‘Be the change we want to see in the world.’  Let’s keep the faith and work together in bringing Sustainable Tarpon Springs to life!