Seeing the forest for the trees,,,

I am easily sidetracked. I certainly don't mean to be, but sometimes it is a matter of small vision. I often have to remind myself to expand my view. For example, I currently work at a job that is good, honest work... it doesn't pay a fortune at all, but it helps make ends meet. This is not my forever kind of job. I think I would go mad. This job serves a purpose. I applied for this job because I have a plan.

The plan is that I work while my husband does the stay-at-home daddy thing. He traveled for the job he had and we HATED it. We knew we would have to cut back, but this would allow for us to be together, rather than miles apart, sometimes for weeks at a stretch. He will get a new job, but it will be close to home too. This is a priority for us. It is necessary for us. This time has also happily allowed him to pursue school and he is on the Deans List. Cool.

Part 2 of the plan is that I get to go to school this coming year. I have been wanting to go for so long, and there is no reason to wait any longer.

So, those are the goals. When I get frustrated with my little rinky dink job, I remind myself of WHY I am doing it and that can really make a world of difference. I always work hard because if I am going to invest my time into it, then I will do it right. I am grateful to have a job in a time when so many do not but again, this is a stepping stone, not a stopping place.

A Time For Change

There are far too many conflicting facts regarding what is bad for you, what is good for you, and the worst of it is that it seems to change day by day. For the most part, the conclusion I have come to is that if it is good for the Earth, it is probably good for you too. I am not in the least prepared to go all "No Impact Man" ( Though his year-long experiment was and is hella cool.), and my steps to respect and love my World are going to be modest, but the idea is to build better, and healthier ways of living - for me and Mother Earth -, and to educate myself along the way.

I hate the condition we have gotten our environment into. What the hell have we all been thinking? I mean, I know I had parents who punished me for breaking my toys, for wasting food by not cleaning my plate ( damn green beans...) and I too tell my kids not to be wasteful by breaking their things, or getting too much to eat, etc. So, the irony to me is that we tell them that and then we break the world we live in and why? To throw away swiffer pads, razors, pens, cups, plates, bottles, clothes, paper? To eat beef, knowing full well what that means for pollution? It goes on and on. Selective ignorance and I am so sick of myself.

My new habits to begin with today are these...

1. No more disposable cleaning wipes.

2. Lay off the beef and pork consumption.

3. Stop buying 20 0z. sodas. ( I am bad about this at work. I get one or two every day that I go in. At best I spend $6.75 a week.)

4. Stop buying bottles of water. While I can get a huge bottle of Dasani for $1.10, it still comes in one of those plastic bottles that I am trying to rid my life of, and honestly I really do like my tap water, so why am I paying for water at work?

5. Stop the flow of plastic bags into my home. My family and I have a whole plethora of cloth shopping bags that we don't use nearly often enough. This is a big deal for me, because I can't handle the thought of hurting animals with a bag just because they are the quick and convenient way to go.

I know that I am spoiled by convenience. I own that completely. I was raised in a generation where faster was better and using something more than once was unthinkable. It all comes at a heavy price both personally, and to the world at large. I have to do something... I feel desperate to do something; to know that I am doing something for the only greater good that I know really and truly exists. I almost invariably believe that the "greater good" is usually a line passed out to make people follow a cause that hurts others, but not this time. This won't hurt anyone. Just the opposite. I'm ready for some change.