So disappointed!

We have not inherited this world from our parents, we have borrowed it from our children." Native Canadian passage 

When you "borrow" something, doesn't that imply that we are going to give it back at some point in the future? Well after what appeared to be an abysmal local participation rate in Earth Hour last Saturday I think we should more accurately admit that we are stealing, rather than borrowing, the earth from our kids.

I was shocked, and disappointed, to see so few homes, let alone businesses (that weren't even open at 8:30 pm on a Saturday) shrouded by darkness. We drove through several towns/cities on the way home from a family event (who did turn the lights off at the appointed time, even with a house full of guests) and I'd say we saw fewer than 20 homes (on the 45 minute drive) darkened (and who knows if even these homes were actively participating in the Earth Hour event or were just out for the evening - I know, I know, I am such as pessimist).

We drove up our Main Street hoping to find that our own little community was being more environmentally responsible than the rest of the GTA only to be not totally disappointed. A few of the shops were completely dark, as were two of the restaurants (candles flickering on the tables, porch and entry ways), a couple of shops and another restaurant were definitely darker than usual, and then there was Starbucks ... usually bright and  full of lights seemed even more so (envision a fir tree in the middle of the forest in the the dead of night lit up with a zillion Christmas tree lights) against the dimmed backdrop of the rest of the street. 

Sigh. 

Oh well, with all the tools available to help us save energy (from iPhone apps - yes there are many apps for that - to programmable and remote accessed thermostats) that so few of us take advantage of, I guess it was too much to expect people to manually turn lights off for an hour. Who knows what could have happened; someone could have sprained a finger flipping a switch or we could have actually made a difference. 

Set your own path

Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility."  Oprah Winfrey

Really!? An Oprah quote! Come on!

This is what most people who know me would say if they were reading my blog. (Are any of you out there?) My Mum would definitely be rolling her eyes and tsk-tsking me. (But I don't have to worry about that because she refused to learn to use the computer. A blog topic for another day.) I often teased her that she got her philosophy degree from the University of Oprah. She, my mother not Oprah, would often espouse Oprah's perspectives and doctrines at me, usually when I had done something she didn't agree with. But when I read this quote it really struck a cord in me.

One thing that makes me crazy are people who dwell on what could have been rather than focusing on what could be; talking about the decision(s) you made 1, 2, 10, or even 20 years ago, and how everything since then has sucked. You know these conversations, they usually start with "Only if I ..." or "I wish I had ...". Get over it already. Today is today, and you can't get back yesterday, and if you spend all of today thinking about yesterday instead of enjoying it and planning for what you want to achieve tomorrow then you will have wasted yet another day.

Harsh? Perhaps. (Rarely am I accused of being too subtle.) But having the ability to choose my own path is something that I try very hard not to take for granted. That is not to say that I never fall into the pit of self-wallowing. We all do. But the pits I fall into tend to be shallow and narrow, and I fill them in as quickly as I can so that I can move on to my next goal. Speaking of which; does anyone have words of wisdom to share on reupholstering a couch?

Did you miss me? (That is rhetorical BTW)

Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire." Francois de la Rochefoucauld

So it has been a while, with no reason or excuse for the absence other than losing the grove and not focusing my attention on getting it back. Why is it so easy to keep up bad habits, and so often difficult to maintain good ones?  (Another rhetorical question.) A couple of times, after a few weeks of not blogging I went to start again, only to be sieged by thoughts of failure "It has been too long to start again.", "Nobody will bother reading now that you have stopped writing for so long", etc... Silliness I realised after a friend of mine encouraged me back to blogging with the sage words of encouragement and blogging wisdom "I understand why pepole stop, because it is thankless and it goes on forever, but I hope you will consider starting again strictly for the love of the game."

So from the dark genius of WO to wise words of H. Stanley Judd:

Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failures and go on to the next challenge. It's OK to fail. If you're not failing, you're not growing.” H. Stanley Judd.

I pick up the proverbial pen to get back at it, along with a couple other Q210 focused efforts, and hope you will forgive my absence and continue (or start) to follow, and participate in, my musing of pursing an attitude of gratitude.