if you woke up tomorrow and found out you had 24 hours to live, what would you do? who would you see? what would you eat? where would you go?
why?
i sometimes wonder if we even so much as asked ourselves these questions, how our lives might be different; how we might make different choices or use our resources differently. to say that it's a lack of awareness that plagues our technologically advanced society seems somewhat irresponsible. we live in a world where we can communicate to people across the world in seconds. we are aware more than ever of the troubles and travails of the modern world and yet we hide behind the luxuries of convenience and comfort. for the most part, it appears people are motivated by the fear of not having what they want, as if they would somehow be less without their belongings, their status, or their illusion of control. it is my belief that it is not a lack of resources that is at the root cause of problems we face in the world today, but a lack of integrity and critical thought. even so called 'causes' that so righteously espouse a better way of life are focusing on effects and not causes. you've heard the old adage about teaching a man to fish. well nevermind fishing, people need to learn how to think! it's unfortunate that possessing a brain does not seem to assume its use. nor does possessing life seem to assume valuing it. if this were true, do you think we would be killing each other over land, money, power, convenience, jealousy, petty thievery or any other myriad reasons people are dying every day? i can think of no civilized justification for violence, yet nor do i pretend to not participate in the system that supports it. i think that to assume that because you've never held a weapon, that you are not responsible for the violence and injustice that occurs in our world, in our society and in our thoughts, is a confusion. a very dangerous and destructive confusion. because then who is responsible? who is at the helm if you will? if each of us as individuals turns a blind eye on our participation in the whole, there is no integrity and there is no humanity.
Albert Einstein said it beautifully when he said:
"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part
limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and
feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical
delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for
us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few
persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this
prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living
creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
i think it is essential, in order for human evolution to continue, that the citizens of this global community begin to evaluate what's really important in life and in living. what do you value and why? and are these values being expressed in everything that you do?