I ask this question in a non-threatening, non-combative way. Today I woke up with this idea of choices and how my choices affect the world. I think it is overwhelming to consider the entire impact I have on the world. I am one person. But with all that I consume, all that I dispose of, all that I take from the World, it is a huge task to change the state of affairs within my own personal arena in a way that is better. Or is it?
My thoughts on choices started with two books I am reading. I consider reading a true luxury of time. Therefore, I tend not to read romances but non-fiction. I prefer books that help me learn more about anything. The first book I dug out of my closet and began to read is, “Silence On The Mountain” by Daniel Wilkinson. This is a history of Guatemala and is subtitled, “Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemala”. In the first few chapters the author recounts a German immigrant’s recollection of his first few weeks in La Libertad, Guatemala around 1892. He speaks of the different classes of people in the area and quickly points out how “lazy” the natives were. He states that they simply “will not work any harder than they need to, to provide for their very basic of needs”. He goes on to say even when money is advanced that they sooner “run away then face the repayment in labor”. My thought on choice came immediately. Could it be that the natives simply believe the choice of their native life was more important than money? That the choice of acquiring more money than one needed to provide for “basic needs” was not a good choice? I imagined for a moment what my life would be like if I only made enough money for my basic needs. Not the college fund. Not the IRA. Not the shopping spree at Best Buy. But money for absolute basic needs.
The second book is entitled, “Half the Sky”. It is about turning the oppression of women around the world into opportunity for women and girls and is co-written by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The first chapter literally made my stomach hurt as I read about young girls simply searching for a way to make money to help feed their family set off with a hired travel assistant only to be sold to a brothel and forced into prostitution. How one escaped, and through the help of the organization called Apne Aap began a new life. The organization did not focus on her lack of money, food, or clothes, but focused on education. They taught her to read and write. She then set out to start her own business and created a new family and a new life.
So today, I brought to my consciousness – my choices. I began to think about how I could deconstruct the overwhelming need to do something into a moment by moment decision that could lead to a change. Maybe a small change. But a conscious change in the way I live my life. I wanted to go to the local market. The choice was to ride my bike or drive a car. I drove my car. My car is a hybrid. A choice I made. I wanted to buy local foods but realized the sustainable butcher drove here from 200 miles away. I chose some organic strawberries and declined the plastic bag and placed them in my reusable bag. I bought a latte. Amazing after seeing the WWF on how much water it takes to make a latte. The choice also included purchasing it from a privately owned coffee shop, and I chose not to use a sleeve cover or a plastic lid. I recognize there are many out their that make more significant choices than I did this morning. I also recognize that many are not even aware of the choices they made this morning.
Each day, each moment we make choices on how we live our lives. Some of these choices are huge. Some of these choices are small. Every single one makes an impact. For each small choice I make, it helps me see the opportunity for an even better choice. It raises the bar on how I contribute in a positive way to a world that gives me so very much. I am grateful and humbled today. My choices are my ability to live that gratitude.
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