We all know the right thing to do. We often forget, though, as we try to justify some of our less than exemplary words and actions. Helping people is the right thing to do; hurting people is not. War is immoral, violence is unacceptable. While there are extremes and arguments for each of these, we know they are wrong. While we may pontificate about our impact on the larger scale, assuming there is nothing we can do about a war thousands of miles away, we may neglect our beliefs in our daily lives. Sometimes we miss the spiritual part, where we live what we know is right. If we begin to honor our beliefs, we can begin to show our younger generation how to do the same.
The spiritual way is living each moment with our best intentions and treating others as we would wish to be treated. Starting at our own level, we can change the world, even if not immediately, but we can certainly impact our daily lives.
There are so many ways for our world to be influenced by doing the right thing. In one of my books, Don’t Fall off the Bicycle: Balancing Chaos and Order in Our Lives, I mention three large concerns in the world today: Peace, Population and Pollution and some possible solutions.
Peace involves the obvious issue of war, but it also includes any violence, verbal or physical. Violence is any physical or emotional injury, or discomfort, of another person. How often do we argue with relatives or friends and make statements that we wish we could retract the minute they are uttered? What if we eliminated harsh words from our conversations, attempting to listen to and understand another’s view before condemning the opinion or that person?
Population involves the issue of too many people in the world, but it also includes poverty. Education is an avenue to a better future for children. Is it acceptable to allow our poorest children to be malnourished and uneducated? Money is not the only way to assist, either on a government or individual level. While aid is crucial, so is volunteering or helping in any small way possible. What if we used the abundance in our lives to help others?
Pollution is ruining the air and water around us. We are spoiling the environment with our careless throw-away society. Excessive consumerism is always wanting and needing more. What if our challenge is to find creative ways to use less, of everything?
There are no easy solutions to any of these concerns. We know that sometimes we simply ignore our own instincts and allow the flow of society to dictate personal, perhaps incorrect, choices. What if we change that? What if we teach our youth to honor their instincts and do the right thing?