Sunday, July 18, 2010

The World is Not Our Garbage Can....

This didn't start yesterday. The awareness, the annoyance and yes, sometimes the outright disgust while watching somebody litter for no good, or obvious reason. It was fostered by my parents, both of them. For this lesson, I am so very grateful.

Certainly, I don't recall ever seeing either of them drop something on the ground in public or around our house or on our property with the expectation that somebody else would, could, should or might be hired to pick up after them. If they dropped it or tossed it, they picked it up. We were expected to do the same and without question, we did. Not because we were perfect kids. Oh my heavens, no! But, because the logic of it all made sense. The logic that we were presented with was so simple, yet so direct. If everybody dropped just one piece of litter every day, what would the world, the ocean, the lake, the country, the state, the town, the street, the neighborhood look like? When delivered that way by them to us, without accusation, judgement, or condemnation, it was thought-provoking. And most importantly,it worked!

We were shown, by example, that we were responsible for the space around us wherever we were. That we were caretakers of wherever we were in the world. That we could effect a change just by doing the right thing. By not causing damage.

The concept is one that I embrace each and every day. It is powerful and wonderful and a task that I am proud to practice, to carry out and to pay forward.

Thanks for listening. I would love to hear your thoughts.

2 comments:

  1. yes, I totally agree with you. I have two kids that I have to be on all the time. What make some people think that they are entitled to be slobs is beyond me.

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  2. Lise - you practice what you preach. Thank you for the reminder for the rest of us. As you say, it is a habit that is ingrained from early years. I was blessed to have the same type of parents as you - and I agree- that foundation is critical.

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