My Thoughts On Life

I don’t know whether to be jealous of or inspired by those lucky few that have blogged their ways to success. I suppose it is a little of both.

Jealous because I see them quitting their day jobs and focusing solely on what it is that they are truly passionate about. Being able to focus 100% on what they are good at and are passionate about, and driving themselves into the center of attention in their respective fields. Becoming a respected person of their trade, they blog and everyone listens. They blog and publishers offer them book contracts. They blog and people flock to their site by the thousands or millions. People pay hundreds of dollars to listen to them give a lecture or hold a conference. These successful bloggers are able to make a significant impact in their community, and so yes I am jealous.

Inspired because it gives me great hope that I too, one day, could be just as successful as they are. To blog and have people listen. To blog and have people flock to my site by the thousands or millions. I see myself sitting in a local coffee shop, sipping an iced peppermint tuxedo, and blogging. Writing post after post. Making a difference. Making an impact. Making others inspired to become just like me.

Alas, I will keep my day job for now, and keep blogging in my spare time, late into the night, and I will keep dreaming of the day that I too could be as successful as they are.

I would like to share with you five ways to help make a positive difference; be it to help the environment, humanity, or animals. It is amazing how easy it is to make a difference through small actions. I hope that you find these helpful, and I will post more in the coming weeks. Also, if you have any ideas on ways to help, please feel free to share them here.

1. Use Reusable Grocery Bags

Bringing your own grocery bags into the store with you is easy to do, and reduces the amount of waste we put into our landfills.

The idea of bringing your own grocery bags with you into the store has become a very popular trend in the past year. Not surprisingly stores such as Whole Foods and Co-Op stores encourage this. But, now even large chains such as Safeway and Target are supporting this, and sometimes giving you back 5¢ for each bag you bring with you.

Refer to my post Please Dispose Of When Done for more information.

2. Use Paper Bags Instead of Plastic

So, let’s say you forget your reusable grocery bags; I admit this happens to me often. You brought them with you last time you went shopping, but forgot to put them back in the car after you brought the groceries home that night. What do you do? Choose paper bags over plastic when you get to the check stand.

Plastic bags, although recyclable, often do not make it to a landfill or a recycling facility. Instead they end up in our water ways, clogging drains, and choking animals. On the other hand, paper bags are biodegradable, and often made of post consumer content.

Refer to SF Gate post Continent-size toxic stew of plastic trash fouling swath of Pacific Ocean for more information.

3. Use Natural, Plant Based, Biodegradable Cleaning Products

I started using Clorox Green Works dish soap recently, and am very happy with the switch. Switching to plant based cleaners reduces the amount of petroleum based products you consume regularly, thus reducing our dependency on petroleum and fossil fuels.

Refer to Clorox Green Works site for more information.

4. Use A Reusable Coffee Mug

Whether you’re at work or going to your local coffee shop, bring a reusable coffee mug with you. You will be reducing the amount of waste we put into our landfills.

If you are a coffee addict like me that drinks coffee several times per day, you will be saving thousands of cups, lids, and sleeves from ever going into the trash.

5. Use Both Sides of The Printer Paper

Make sure to print on both sides of the paper whether you’re at work or at home.

Make sure your employer has duplex devices installed in the office printers; that is the part of a laser printer that flips the paper over allowing the printer to print on both sides. This will save them money on buying paper, and will save on paper waste.

Make sure you find out how to print on both sides of the paper with your home printer. Even though you will not have a duplex device in your printer, every printer I have ever used has an option to print on both sides. When you select this option, the printer will print on one side, and then prompt you to flip the paper over so it can print on the other side.

Just think about how much paper you will save. You will be using half of what you would use without it.

Also, try printing multiple pages per side of the paper, you will save even more paper.

The holiday season. A time of the year in which we all switch off work in our heads, and begin thinking of others. Burnt out from busting our butts all year long, worrying about deadlines, and writing status reports. We turn our attention to the things that we have neglected for some time now, and feeling guilty for procrastinating on these things all year; we attempt to begin anew. We begin to create a new TODO list in our heads filled with all the tasks we wished we did this year. We then prioritize, and eventually create our list of New Year’s resolutions.

I am no better than any other. I too have let dust settle. I am fully aware of my natural tendency to procrastinate. For starters, if you pay attention to the date of my last post, you’ll see that even this blog was neglected for some time.

So, what tasks am I making a mental note on, my new and improved TODO list, and what will be my New Year’s resolutions? And better yet, what am I going to do this coming new year to better ensure that this is the year that I accomplish the tasks I am laying out before myself?

My New Year’s Resolutions for 2010 (a.k.a. My TODO list)

I didn’t do so bad, only three. Obviously there are many hidden details behind these rather broad statements, but nevertheless here is my list:

1. Everybody’s gotta have lose weight somewhere on their list, so why don’t I just put it at the top and get that one over with.
2. Work on my entrepreneurial efforts; putting into fruition the many great ideas that Mona and I dream up.
3. Doing my part to make a positive impact on the world.

How I plan to stay the course in 2010

I am going to keep the solution simple. The simpler the solution, the better chances I have at achieving them. I am going to employ a simple yet effective management tactic from the corporate setting. Every week I will write a status report listing my accomplishments and what I intend to work on in the following week.

I will post these weekly status reports here on my blog, and you can all participate in critiquing me, as my boss or colleagues would in the corporate setting.

What will your New Year’s Resolutions be for 2010?

It is hard wired in our minds; humans thirst for power and wealth. They will stop at nothing until they stand on top of the world. Until they can tell anyone to do what they do not wish to do themselves, and possess anything they can possibly imagine.

It is sad to see how money drives us as a race. How much we crave it. How much we fight for it, steal for it, manipulate for it.

WHY?

Because with money comes power. With money comes wealth. With money a person can say, do, or have whatever they so desire.

With enough money and enough desire, a person can pay to have sex with a girl of any ethnicity or any age they wish; be it a 12 year old Burmese girl, or a 14 year old Russian girl, or even a 16 year old American girl. And, they never stop and ask themselves:

“Should I really be doing this, even if I am able? I am using this poor child to fulfill my fantasies, my desires, my lust.”

It is truly dumbfounding to see how a person will do anything for power and wealth. A person would trade their soul for the chance to have it. A person will manipulate, torture, and kill any other human for power and wealth.

Throughout our history we have seen the highly respected men of the cloth misuse their power to imprison, torture, and kill any person that they look down upon.

We have seen numerous instances where a group of people tries to kill those that they think do not deserve to live. We even had to coin the word genocide for such horrific examples in our history.

We have seen throughout our history, and even today, people being sold or auctioned off like cattle for profit. People being enslaved to work against their own will to make huge profits for their captor. Sold for sexual pleasures or hard labor in mines and factories. Working for free, so someone can make thousands of dollars and never lift a finger to earn it themselves.

It disgusts me to think about how terrible we as humans treat each other. How many hundreds of ways we know to torture each other. To kill each other. To manipulate each other:

Genocide. Rape. Prostitution. Torture. Murder. Molestation. Stealing. Enslaving. Disfiguring. Dismembering. Shooting. Stabbing. Hanging. Electrocuting. Poisoning. Scamming.

And, sadly the list goes on and on.

WHY ARE WE SO HORRIBLE? WHY ARE WE SO SELFISH? WHY ARE WE SO GREEDY?

WHY?

Funny Thing Happened to Me Last Night!

I was getting ready for bed; I showered and was just about to brush my teeth when I zoned out. I started thinking about things that happened during the day, and what I didn’t realize was that my mind started me down the path of getting ready for going to work instead of getting ready for bed, and before I realized it, I had gotten my hair gel out, rubbed it in my  hair, and fixed my hair. And, as I started washing the gel off of my hands, I snapped out of it and thought, “Wait a minute! Why am I washing hair gel off my hands? Why did I just fix my hair?”

It got me thinking about how we humans tend to go through life in autopilot. How our minds so cleverly have an involuntary reflex to perform repetitive tasks for us without us ever having to waste the time to think about every little mundane task day in and day out. Without such an ability, we would be forced to concentrate on even the smallest of tasks we perform. Tasks such as breathing and blinking would need our full attention, otherwise we’d forget to breath.

Funny Thing Isn’t It?

But, as you can see from my little mishap last night, it can also get us into trouble as we switch off from the world when we just don’t want to involve ourselves in what is going on around us.

We as a people involuntarily spit on common walkways that others use, toss gum or cigarettes when done with, pass by others in need of help without a care, and carelessly run over animals crossing the street. We involuntarily drive the same commute to and from work everyday, and have a strong tendency to create motor vehicle accidents due to zoning out while driving.

There are many, many more examples of how we zone out and let ourselves walk through our lives in autopilot.

Stop and Think for a Minute!

Pay attention to your actions. Pay attention to the world around you. Pay attention to other humans and animals around you. Sometimes it is good to retrain your mind to perform a task differently than before. Chances are, you’ll discover something new and exciting in the world around you.

Disposable Cups. Disposable Phones. Disposable. Disposable. Disposable.

Every day there is a new product on the market, or an older product being revamped, that somehow incorporates the idea of easy disposal when it’s no longer needed. Anything a person can think of is in some way becoming disposable. It’s very scary if you stop and think about it for a second. How many items you throw away in the trash every day. How frequently you have to take the trash out.

I know that as consumers we have gotten used to the concept of:

Buy → Use → Trash

We are so used to it that we don’t even think twice about it. We have forgotten completely about the time when ketchup and soda came in glass bottles, and that those glass bottles were given back to be reused. We have forgotten a life without paper towels and plastic bags.

What Would We Do Without Them?

I really think that we took a wrong turn 10 or 20 years ago when we went down this path of disposable products. When plastic completely took over as the proper method to store things. When plastic became an essential part of our daily lives. Because if you really think about it, plastic is what replaced glass bottles, metal silverwear, paper and cloth bags, and even wooden and metal playground equipment.

I’m not sure how or if we can revert back to the days when disposable was not common-place. I am sure that we should stop and think about how we can individually decrease our usage of disposable items. For example, looking at Project GreenBag and grocery stores such as Whole Foods Market where they are trying to cut down on the usage of plastic grocery bags. Take a look at their bags:

Take some time, right now, and think about how you can reduce your usage of disposable items. I sure know that I would like to have a “friendly” talk with the genius that came up with the plastic playground. I don’t see how anyone would like those things with the amount of static electricity that builds up as a poor kid tries to slide down a slide. That kid better hope his parents didn’t make him wear sandals because his feet are going to be in for a big surprise. I sure do miss playgrounds made from wood and metal.

Check Out These Cool Websites Supporting Our Environment …

• ecoficial (Twitter: @ecoficial)
• WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (Twitter: @WWF)
• WWF-Global Climate Deal (Twitter: @WWF_Climate)
• Greenpeace International (Twitter: @Greenpeace)
• Project GreenBag (Twitter: @ProjectGreenBag)
• Green Upgrader (Twitter: @greenupgrader)
• Sustainable Traditions (Twitter: @sustainabletrad)
• Friends of The Earth (Twitter: @wwwfoecouk)
• Earth Hour (Twitter: @earthhour)
• Brighter Planet (Twitter: @brighterplanet)
• Planet Forward (Twitter: @planet_forward)
• Greener Lives (Twitter: @greenerlives)

It is a natural instinct to be pulled in by the beauty of the opposite sex. To be mesmerized by someone so beautiful that you know only God could have created her. Your heart races. Your pupils dilate. Your palms sweat.

What is more beautiful in this world than a man and a woman catching each others’ eye, and instantly drawn to each other? Such a perfect thing. So pure. So innocent. So desired.

If this truly is perfection on Earth, then why be concerned? Why, when the majority of the time there is complete innocence in such attraction? Because of the desire. Because of the wanting and needing of such chemistry. With such beauty does occasionally come flaws. Does come imperfection.

This obsession, this lust, this desire. It is too strong. It is too pure. It is too instinctive. For it bypasses all better judgment. All reasoning. All rationale. Out of passion there is obsession. Out of want there is abduction. Out of sex there is rape. Out of greed there is trafficking in humans.

Enslaving of girls into prostitution. Forcing them to be raped repeatedly everyday in exchange for money. Instilling fear in their eyes, and breaking them down into submission to sex. In fear for their lives.

This is the most horrific criminal act that this human race commits. Such evilness. Such greed. Such selfishness. So utterly horrifying to even try to imagine. I break down when I think that at this very moment there are so many girls in this world that are in this very situation.

For one minute, just imagine yourself in such a position. Close your eyes, and try to imagine what it must feel like to be in such a position. One minute you are living your happy life, and the very next minute you’ve been abducted. You are completely ripped away from your life, from your family and friends, and are forced into being raped everyday and every night. Over and over again. You have lost all hope of returning to your previous life. You live in fear of what will happen in the next five minutes. Your whole entire body goes numb, and your mind goes blank. Never daring to think of escape because you fear the punishment if you are caught. You are nobody now. You have no feelings. No freedoms. No voice. You are living and breathing for only one purpose. You are a commodity.

Question:

What can be done to put an end to this? What can I do to help? I feel so helpless.

Further Reading:

• Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-International (CATW): A non-governmental organization that promotes women’s human rights by working internationally to combat sexual exploitation in all its forms.
• Not For Sale: The Not For Sale Campaign equips and mobilizes Smart Activists to deploy innovative solutions to re-abolish slavery in their own backyards and across the globe.
• Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSCE): Supports the development and implementation of anti-trafficking policies in OSCE participating States.

We are instinctively selfish, all of are. We are from birth naturally selfish.

The moment we gasp for our first breath, we are fighting for our own lives, and we think of no one but ourselves in such a moment. We choose ourselves over others. Life continues this way for all of us. We cry in the middle of the night because we need milk. We fight to be at the head of the line, just so we are not the poor sucker further back in line that does not stand a chance to get to the front before supplies run out.

We are selfish to see others afflicted with pain or suffering from the comfort of our own homes. To hear of death or rape, only to forget about it five minutes later. To hear someone cry out for help, only to turn our backs for the sake of our own safety. To tell ourselves that there is nothing we can do to help those who suffer. To succum to our innate selfishness.

We are selfish. No question. No doubt. And, it brings gut wrenching sickness to my stomach to think about it. To watch as those around me float through life never noticing it. Never seeing the disgustingness of it. Never to have tears poor from their eyes and cry out to God, “Why! Why does life have to be this way?! Make it stop!”

Why Must It be This Way? Why Must We be This Way?

It is so easy to go through life staying selfish, floating through life. It is so enjoyable to go through life never feeling pain. To not be in agony.

We as humans have to make the choice in our lives to be selfish. At some point in our lives we are given the opportunity to choose between ourselves and others. At that very moment we stand at a very important crossroad in our lives. Facing the decision to be selfish, or to change our natural tendency and be selfless.

And, when that moment comes, choose wisely. Do not blindly choose your happiness and securities over others. Do not hastily gasp for that breath of air. Instead, ask yourself, do I need that dollar in my pocket, or can I give it away? Can I give it to a homeless shelter, or a battered woman’s shelter? Or, maybe can I donate it to helping to find a cure for breast cancer?

Ask yourself if you want to float through life, or do you want to truly feel what it is like to live.

Rhetorical Question

Why do we have trash cans?

Seriously, why? I mean there is a trash can, sometimes even two, in front of every store in this country. We each have several of them at our homes. And, yet it amazes me at just how much trash does not wind up in one of the millions upon millions of conveniently placed trash cans all over this country.

Can someone shine some light on this for me, because I have truly been dumbfounded by this simple question for such a long time? Please, I implore you. I beg you, why???

Jist

There are really two parts to this pet peeve of mine:

1. Leaving trash, be it gum or a cigarette or something else, somewhere other than the nearest trash receptacle.
2. Throwing trash out the window of a moving vehicle.

First, I must have missed the memo on the tribal knowledge pass down that throwing things like gum and cigarettes on the ground anywhere and everywhere was considered acceptable. And, it’s not like a person that does it makes sure no one is looking because they know they’re doing something that they shouldn’t. NO! The more crowded of a public place the more likely to step on someone’s trash. Please don’t do this. It’s disgusting. It’s appalling. And, it’s inhumane.

Second, I wonder how many fires are started by someone flicking that cigarette out of their car window. Seriously, what’s the excuse for that one? No ashtray in the car??? Not likely. Why do people insist on making the side of the road their own personal trash can?

Please, stop and think before you are about to jettison that smoldering cigarette butt from your fingers. Stop and think before you carelessly “forget” to pick up your empty drink cup from that grocery store shelf. No matter what the excuse is, it’s not cool to litter.