Today I gave a talk at school for Earth Day. At the end, I said something controversial.
When most of us get a scratch on our arm, we don't have to worry whether it will heal or not. We don’t have to get stressed, anxious, or desperate for it to heal. We don’t have to coax it to heal.
Our arm will heal on its own - we simply need to foster its healing by creating healing conditions (keeping it clean, giving it air, avoiding poking it).
Similarly, if we stop polluting it and poking it, the environment will heal itself.
The controversial statement I said today:
If we live with integrity, in honor of our true values, the environment will handle itself.
In other words: Don’t worry about the environment. Live your most authentic life.
So many of us, individually and collectively, live lives in search of “someday” when we’ll finally get exactly what we’re looking for and then get to relax in well-being, happiness, and peace.
Our values aren’t about “someday.” They’re about right now.
Our values aren’t about what results we produce. They’re about how we’re being.
Our values aren’t about the surface-level at all. They touch us to the core.
Our values aren’t personal. They include ourselves, for sure, and they also include EVERYONE else (non-human life too).
If what we think are our values don’t meet those criteria, then we haven’t gone deep enough.
And it doesn’t take much to go deeper. There’s a simple question that helps us get there: “Why?”
“I value free time.” Why?
“I value creativity.” Why?
“I value friendship and family.” Why?
“I value following the rules.” Why?
“I value feeling good.” Why?
Ask that question until you can't get any deeper. (It works.)
It's because our values include us and others that the environment will take care of itself once we live with integrity, in honor of our values.
(Integrity is aligning all levels of our being - our body, mind, heart, behaviors, and relationships - with our values.)
It’ll be a cleaner, healthier, freer world for all life as we do.
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change...This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” - Gandhi.
Thanks so much for reading. ❤️