perspective
Photo by Huntz

I was picking family up at the airport the other day, and at the ticket station the man in front of us was having awful trouble getting the machine to take his money. He needed to pay $20 and despite trying a hundred different ways, the machine just wasn’t going to play. As a result, quite a queue formed behind him as we all waited our turn.

Soon I heard murmuring and shuffling, and the man having trouble got more flustered. My brother voiced what I suspect everyone else was thinking: “Why doesn’t he just get out of the way and let everyone else through, the selfish man!”

What I was thinking was: “I wish I had cash on me to swap with him and put the poor guy (and the rest of us) out of his misery.” I asked my mother, who had no cash on her either, and no one else offered. Eventually he gave up and walked away.

I think that I would have thought the same thing as my brother not so long ago. It’s such as small shift in perspective but one that I’m liking.

Maybe it’s a sign of maturity, or maybe not, but I’ve really been giving long hard thought to some of my values and attitudes. Hours of spare time has given me time to reflect on a few things. On of them in particular is my attitude towards my family, to the community, to the environment and to the future.

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m a shining star or an example to follow, I fail far more times that I succeed. It’s just something that has been on my mind lately, and I want to try to ‘walk the talk’ and be more accountable.

One thing in particular that has been on my mind is moving towards an attitude of giving rather than taking. I want to move away from the “what’s in it for me” attitude. It’s not easy, but I’m working on it.

I think that generosity starts in our minds and with our attitudes towards ourselves, each other and towards our environment and then extends through the actions that we do.

Part of this reflection on shifting my attitude has been a growing concern about the amount of things that I ‘consume’. We are pretty frugal and far from being typical ‘consumers’ yet it still concerns me how much I contribute to our environmental degradation by our unsustainable lifestyle. I’m not sure that I am going to have to live with the consequences of my decisions or actions, rather generations to come are going to have to deal with them, and that doesn’t seem very fair or show much forethought. While governments and big businesses certainly play their part in creating a sustainable future, I don’t think that should be an excuse for forgoing personal responsibility. I have control over personal responsibility and it is where I can make the most change. I’m not advocating moving back to the dark ages, but to move forward in a more sustainable and responsible manner.

So what exactly am I doing? Well, not enough actually. But I’m working on it. Slowly. And I’m excited because it is very freeing and empowering to take responsibility for your own life and to live by the values and standards that you set for yourself rather than living by the conventions set by others.

Like everything, it begins with a shift in perspective, a different way of thinking. And I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately. Now it’s time to turn it into action.

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