10 ways you can change the world. TODAY. Part 2
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You may already read my
first blog post on this topic 10 ways you can change the world. TODAY. If you didn't, you can do it right now. Like that, you will
have even more ideas on how we, as normal people, can make a
change in the world.
Here I come back with
another 10 ways (actually 11) you can make a difference in the
world and you don't even need super powers for that.
If in the first blog post
I talked more of practical things we can do every single day in order
to change our lifestyle and of course, the world, because every
change starts from within, this article is a bigger mix of
practical ideas and a mindset that we need to have to make this world
a better place.
As I like saying, if
we want to change the world and the society, we need to start from
ourselves and the choices and the decisions we make every single day.
Unfortunately, we can not “fix” the world and “heal”
all its issues in one day. It's a constant long term process.
It takes time! Probably, we will always have something to
“fix”, but this does not mean that we don't have to do anything
about it now. We do it for ourselves, our children and the
generations coming after us. We, as people, are responsible
for the things happening in the society and have to make sure to give
our best to make this world a place where everybody has equal
rights, is heard, understood and listened
to. Where we take care of our planet, but
also of our bodies and minds because they are our
physical and spiritual homes.
So now, let's go to the
next 11 things that one could do to change the world. NOW!
Do not throw away your electronic devices!
Electronic waste or
e-waste is becoming a huge problem everywhere in the world. In
my first post on this topic, I talked a lot about consumption and how
new products and better models are coming out every new month –
TVs, computers, smart phones, but also fridges, ovens, vacuum
cleaners, coffee machines, blenders, printers, copiers etc. This
means that all of the old stuff that we have and want to replace with
new one is going to be thrown away (where?) or will be just
put somewhere with nowhere to go. Of course, some of these
objects could be broke or not working anymore. The problem is still
the same. What to do with the electronic devices we don't need
anymore?
The landfills are stuck
with this kind of electronic matters (70 % of the heavy metals in
the US landfills are from discarded electronics). I don't even
want to think about the arsenic, mercury, lead
and flame retardants the workers are dealing with every day...
One thing that I personally find disgusting is that some companies
ship this old equipment to “poor” countries where people
don't have access to better quality products. Literally, we get rid
of our old shitty stuff and give it to the poor. Only thinking about
that and I am getting angry!!
So, what can we do to
prevent these horrible outcomes? If your electronics still work, you
can donate them to an organization that can sell them for a
small price (like a second hand) in order to raise funds
for theirs actions and programs. So, try to find an organization
that could take your electronic devices and resell them. This is
how I got my oven, my coffee machine and my blender. And I payed
almost nothing for them! So, this is a great deal! However, if you
can try your device before buying it, just to make sure it really
works, do it.
Recycling is also
an option. If your electronics don't work anymore, they maybe have
some parts that could still be reused, resold or recycled.
Here are some links to
organizations that can take away your devices and recycle, reuse or
resell them.
For the US :
Goodwill :
www.goodwill.org
The Freecycle Network :
https://www.freecycle.org/
E-Cycling Central :
http://www.ecyclingcentral.com/
Earth911 :
www.earth911.org
For Europe (you
have 44 pages of organizations in all Europe) :
Also, in the EU we have
this law covered by the WEEE directive that makes the retailer
take back the equivalent old model of an item when selling you a new
one. Use this option!
And finally, I will come
back to the first step in my previous article on the topic – Be
conscious about the way you consume. Buy less, think before you buy
something, if you really need it. Do not let the society tells
you that you are missing on something better than the things you are
having right now!
Try to buy mostly seasonal local food.
As I said in my previous
article, buying local food is a great way to support small local
businesses and forget about big supermarkets where the food you
buy comes from all over the world in a plastic bag after weeks of
traveling on a plane.
Is it normal to eat
tropical fruits in the winter while living in Europe? Do you know
that all the imported products that we buy involve the emission of
carbon dioxide from the planes that brought them to us? Most of
these products have been transported still “green” so they could
be eatable by the time they reach their final destination.
However, it is also true
that even local products can be sometimes not so good for our
health – for example, if the products are grown in greenhouses
or polytunnels in winter, which requires heating or there is
high use of fertilisers and tractors, which is not
carbon-friendly either.
Also, we don't have to
forget that some products that we buy in our supermarkets, like for
example coffee or cacao, coming from other third world
struggling nations, are one of their biggest incomes.
This topic is a subject
of many debates. My personal opinion is that we don't have to be
maniacs and take ethical eating like the ultimate truth (I am not
going to feel guilty because I ate a banana), but when we buy a
product that has been transported to us, we can think a bit of the
bad gas which ran out in the air and heated the planet.
So, finally, for me the
most important thing to do concerning the food we buy, is to find the
balance. We can not buy and eat only food grown in our local
area, especially if we live in a big city. Sometimes that does not
change anything and can be even worse in terms of quality. What is
important, is how the food was grown (in what conditions), how
it was stored and prepared. All the rest is a matter of choice,
but it is still a very important one. When we buy our food we make
a choice – what kind of business we support (local or big
supermarkets), with what quality of food we want to feed our bodies
and how we cook and store it (is it eco-friendly?). If there is a
cooperative in your town, give it a try! It may sounds crazy,
but after all, we can tell a lot about a person by the food they
buy and eat.
Save money.
One thing that I learned
from my work with people who live in extreme poverty is that saving
money is very very important. Most of the people who live in poverty
don't know how to spend their money thoughtfully. When they
have money, they spend it for things that they could have passed by.
They will buy TVs with big screens, new clothing, expensive toys for
theirs children, they will take a loan to buy a new car... they
rarely think of saving a part of the money they have. This is one of
the reasons that when the money is gone, they have nothing left but
loans to pay.
So, saving money is
very important. Try to save at least 10% or 20% of what you
earn every single month. You may think that it is nothing but by
the end of the year you will have a good amount of money in your bank
account and you will not even realize how it happened. Think about it
– if you put aside 50 euros per month, by 10 months you will have
500 euros, by a year 600 euros. It is not bad. If you double it, you
will have 1200 euros.
Having savings give you
some sort of security. You know that in difficult times, you
have something. If you need to go to the doctor, you know that you
can pay. If you need money to eat, you know that you have some
savings. If you loose your job, same thing. Unpredictable things
happen and it is better to be prepared for them, you never know.
We can not always rely on our relatives and friends to
help us. We need to be independent.
Saving also help you
learn how to spend your money in a more thoughtful and responsible
way. You start looking more carefully the price tags and thinking
before taking out your credit card.
Plant a tree, start gardening.
We all know that trees
are the lungs of the Earth. The more trees we have, the more
oxygen on the planet. So, if you can plant at least one tree in your
life, this is great! If you don't really know how eventually you
could do it (don't have a yard or a garden), there are many
environmental organizations like Greenpeace and WWF that have
projects on planting trees in the cities or building “shared”
gardens in some neighborhoods.
Planting trees in your
neighborhood or starting a small shared garden with your neighbors
are amazing ways to improve the local environment and the planet's
health. Also, having a shared garden is a great way to meet your
neighbors and know them better, spend some time with them and
actually, do
something meaningful together. This is an awesome activity which
is developing more and more in big cities.
Concerning trees and
gardens, besides producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from
the air, they have many other social and economic benefits.
Being around trees and any other plants just feels good. This
is why people who live in big cities feel better spending some time
in parks or gardens where they can get in touch with the nature.
This reduce anxiety, stress and has in general a great
impact on mental and physical health.
So, if you have a yard,
plant a tree, start gardening. If not, try to see what is
happening in you neighborhood. Ask
your neighbors. Maybe you can give a hand from time to time in
your local garden or park. Maybe you can start an
initiative in your neighborhood. Find an environmental
organization, they will give you some information about the
activities that you can get involved into in your city – like
cleaning your neighborhood in the spring or cleaning a river, a
hill, a forest near your town with
other cool fellas. There many possibilities, you just need to
look for them. Oh, and stop buying Christmas trees. Get a fake one!
Decrease your screen-time.
I am talking about TVs,
smart phones, tablets, computers and any other electronic device that
I don't even know it exists. Reduce the screen time. It is not
good for your eyes and it can cause sleeping troubles.
Also,
do you know that spending too much time on screens
restructures your brain? This mostly applies to people who are
“addicted” to electronic devices, but still. This is quite scary!
Also, spending too much time in front of a screen is not very good
for your physical health. Often people who spend theirs days
in front of a computer don't move a lot, don't eat very healthy
(unconsciously we want to eat junk food) and start having metabolic
issues. So, sitting still for hours is not a great deal. Some
studies also show that too much screen-time may increase mortality
risk.
Here I also have to say
that most of the things that we see and watch on TV, apps and the
Internet is brain-washing information that makes you consume
more and have a very wrong vision of the world, far away from
the reality. So, if you can reduce your time in front of screens and
carefully choose what to watch, the world will not change
because of it, but you definitely will. Try to read more books and
to have a personal opinion on different topics and not get
influenced by the things you see on TV.
Take care of your body, mind and soul.
In my previous post I
talked how meditating and praying were shown to improve
our well-being and lifestyle. It is the same about exercise.
It is very important to have some physical activity every day.
If you don't like exercising, just move! Go for a walk or a
hike, ride a bicycle, take the stairs instead of the elevator, dance,
play with your children... Now you can easily find some workouts
on the Internet that you can even do at home and you don't need
equipment. You also have HIIT workouts that take not more than
10 to 20 minutes in most of the cases... So, you got it. You don't
have anymore excuses for not moving your body.
Exercising is also very
important for the mind. When you do some physical activity,
normally you don't think about your problems, your work or whatever
is bordering you at the moment. You are physically tiring yourself
and you just don't have the time for that. Your focus is elsewhere
(on your legs or butt, for example).
It is crucial that every
person take care of their body, mind and soul. You don't need
to get crazy at the gym, but just moving your body, taking a time
off and relaxing is really nourishing and you will
immediately feel good. Once we start taking care of those tree
parts of ourselves (the body, the mind and the soul), our
lifestyle becomes “healthier”. Not only in terms of food and
sport, but also by making healthy choices about
the life, the people, the job we want to have. We reconnect
with ourselves on these tree different levels (body, mind and soul)
and we realize what is really good for us and what it is no longer in
our service and we should let go of.
Have a dream.
One of the most important
things, in my opinion, in order to change the world is for every
person on this planet to have a dream. A big one. And to
pursue it. We need to have a purpose in life. Otherwise, we
live our lives day-by-day without knowing where we go, what we do and
why we do it. You don't have to overthink everything that happened,
might happen or would have happened, but you need to know what is
important for you. What are your goals and values in life?
What kind of a person you want to be? Who is your biggest
inspiration? What have you learned form life until now? These are
important questions that everybody should ask themselves. Of course,
they change with time. We grow, we evolve and we change. But
it is always good to make a “life check” from time to time just
to know where you are standing right now.
Find your passion.
Start enjoying life and do the things that really make you happy.
Learn how to feel happy by yourself, how to feel good in your own
skin. Nobody is here to save us. We are the ones who have to save
ourselves. People come and go in life, in the end we only have
ourselves. We have to learn how to love our own company. Have
big dreams and dedicate your life to their achievement!
Smile, laugh, do not take yourself too seriously.
Sometimes a smile from a
stranger can light up your day and make it better. Be generous
with smiles. Give them to everybody you meet. People like
being around positive people who make them smile and laugh. Life is
hard sometimes, even very often, but people who smile and always try
to see the good in every situation inspire us. They show us
that nothing is too bad. It can always be worst and we have to
be grateful for what we have right NOW. So, smile,
be kind to people, laugh more often. You are not going to get
sick from these things. Actually, you might get cured.
Also, do not take
yourself too seriously. Try to be humble and grounded.
Nobody is the best. Every person has theirs weak and strong spots. We
can literally learn something from everybody. Do not compare
yourself to other people. There always going to be someone
“better” than you and you are always going to be “better”
than someone else (you can also check my article Be smart and stop trying to be perfect ). So, enjoy life. Do not think too much of who has achieved
more than you. Instead of doing that, smile more, laugh more and
enjoy life.
Have respect and compassion for EVERY person you meet.
In nowadays society we
have, unfortunately, different social classes and some stereotypes of
how a successful person should look like. It is easy to think that if
someone does not fit in one of those cases: “well educated”,
“successful”, “beautiful”, “rich” etc. we have nothing to
learn from these people and they don't actually deserve our respect.
This is very very wrong. Every person deserves to be respected.
We need to respect everybody's feelings, thoughts, dreams, values
and believes, even though we don't understand them and they don't
match with ours. We don't have to forget that people build
their believe system on things they have experienced and learned from
life. We don't necessarily have the same life goals and this is fine.
Everybody has the right to live the life they want to live. Who
are we to judge them and decide what is right or wrong for someone
else but ourselves?
Let's try to not be too
hard on people and judge theirs decisions only because they are
different than us. Be compassionate. We don't know what some
people experienced in life. It may be a difficult childhood, a
personal trauma... we all deal in a different way with our
problems. Once someone asked me why homeless people don't go live
with theirs families instead of living on the street. Well, some
people don't have families. Some people have nowhere to go. We don't
know what we would have done if we didn't have families, if we were
at these people's place. Maybe we would have been on the street as
well or even worse – dead.
So, having respect and
compassion for every person we meet is a very important step to take
in order to make a difference in the world! Think about it!
Trust people.
More and more of us have
completely lost trust in people. And maybe it's normal. People are
sometimes mean, aggressive, even violent, they hurt us, they say bad
things to us, the manipulate us... It is difficult to still believe
that good people exist. But they do. Yes, we all have been hurt and
disappointed, but that does not mean that all people are the same.
We don't have to judge the majority of people only because of some
bad personal experiences that we had. People are different
and I truly believe that good people exist. People who want to
help others and care about them.
Not trusting anyone is
really sad. You start constantly thinking that people want to do
something bad to you, want to hurt you or lie to you. And this is not
always the case. You start living in a constant fear of
disappointment. This does not allow you to see the good in
people and how sometimes they genuinely want to make you happy or be
kind to you. Of course, you don't have to be naive and trust
every single stranger you meet on the street, but let people in
your life. Open up. Even if we get hurt, we will go
through it, we will grow and learn from this experience (you can
also check this article Why are negative people the best teachers?). This is life. It happens to get hurt and
get disappointed. But it does not mean that we have to shut the door
to every person we meet. Our relationships with the others teach
us the most about life!
Be authentic.
Changing the world is
not only about making a difference for the others, but also making a
difference for ourselves. Every change starts from within. Have
an authentic life (What does "authentic" mean? ). Live your life like you want to. Nobody
knows better than you what is good for you. Do not be ashamed to
show the world who you really are. Let people see your
inner child, your soul. Do not be scared of showing your
vulnerability. Do not try to be someone you are not. Do
not try to look like someone else. Do not do something only because
everybody does, do it for yourself. Don't build your life
on someone's expectations. Build it on your real dreams and
goals. Do not let society mess up with your mind and
make you believe that you need to have certain things in life to be
happy. You don't need to be rich to be happy, you don't need to
have children and a husband / a wife to be happy, neither a big house
or expensive stuff. You may think for a while that you are happy
because you have those things. But if in your core, you are not
satisfied with your life, the initial happiness will slowly fade away
with time.
Changing the world is not
only about reducing our plastic use and recycling. It is also about
having a conscious personal life. Knowing what is “healthy”
for us, not only in terms of food and exercise, but also in terms of
choices we make about the people we let in our lives, the
decisions we make about our work, our lifestyle, the priorities we
have, how we want to spend our free time, what kind of people we want
to become, what kind of life we want to have. We should stop the
pollution not only on Earth, but also in our lives, our
bodies and our minds. So, let's start making a difference TODAY. Love, Elena
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