Happy Saturday, dear friends. Why is it that many of us are the first to help other people, but when we need help, we rarely ask?
Suffering in silence with overwhelm mode, is a pretty typical situation for compassionate people. We pile up our plates with activities to help others. We want to do more and more to help, and rarely cry “uncle” when we have too much on our plates.
These past few days, I realized how many times I simply stress myself out, trying to rush through everything I have promised to do for others. I rarely ask for help, and end up exhausted and teary at the situation. I also don’t seem to notice that most times, it is my own fault. When I look back, I see how often I offered to do things for others, that they are perfectly capable of doing themselves. If someone consistently offered to take things off your plate, you would certainly take them up on it at every opportunity wouldn’t you? I must firmly look at myself in this situation.
This time around, I made the conscious decision to honor what my body needed when sick, and take care of myself. I actually asked for help on a number of things, and my family, and co-workers, were happy to take up the slack. I didn’t feel like I was letting them down. Quite the contrary, I felt immensely loved by them. I was actually giving them the opportunity to give back to me, after all the times I had given to them.
Having lived in a duality based world for so long, sometimes we forget how reciprocal relationships are, and how often we stick to one end of the relationship instead of coming into balance. To be truly giving, we must learn to receive. To be truly loving, we must learn to accept love. We need to take time to play on both teams, and let everyone have a turn with the ball.
So, tonight, when I asked my youngest daughter for help making dinner, so I could take a shower and chill out a bit, the smile on her face didn’t surprise me. She wanted to give back to me, and all I needed to do was give her the perfect opportunity to complete the circle of love.
Today, we look at sustainability news and then we move on from there.
Trends for global sustainability in 2015.
As consciousness has expanded, many beings have repositioned their community to include the entire globe. What is good for the planet, and the majority, is beginning to replace what is good for the individual. This is a huge step in the right direction to creating a world that works for everyone.
The momentum to create sustainability, across industry and society, has been gaining steam over the past few years. This drive is something that companies and governments ignore at their peril. The quantum jump in communications and social sharing technologies, allow every being to hear what others are thinking and feeling around the world. The true faces of governments and corporations, and their commitment to supporting the planet, must be front and center if they wish to flourish in these new energies.
This article by Sustain Ability, a leader in predicting sustainable trends, shares key issues that have come to the forefront in 2014, and how they will play out globally in 2015 and beyond. Many of these issues focus on the environment, energy, transparency, human rights and discrimination. These must all be addressed in order to shift into a sustainable world, where all are supported with the highest integrity.
10 Trends for Sustainability in 2015 on SustainAbility
Sustainability hits the banking industry as companies realize their clients mean business.
If we were to do a word-association exercise with many people and the first word on the list was “Bank,” what would the response be? In past years it might be savings, or money or security. Since the financial collapse of 2008 and the “too big to fail” global scandals, I would bet the responses would be more in line with crooks, lies, fraud and criminals. Many people have lost all faith in their banks, and even if they use the bank’s services, they do so with frustration.
There is a better way. There are 25 banks out in the wide world that have made the commitment to sustainable practices. Their core responsibilities are as follows: people, planet and profit. They apply them in that order, along with a number of other tenets, and their commitment has been paying off significantly.
This group of sustainable banks is led by an organization called the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. The group’s recent report on Real Economy-Real Returns shows that banking with a conscience, focusing on the good of all, has tremendous returns. These banks concentrate their lending on sustainable products, have more money to lend, and have much higher returns than banks who operate solely based on profit.
It will be interesting to see if more banks recognize the benefit of acting on behalf of people and the planet, instead of their pocketbooks, and this values-based banking movement expands.
Sustainable banking is lucrative and has a conscience by Daniel Hills on the Intelligent Optimist
Sustainable building technologies help create a passive energy house in Romania.
There are so many options available for creating greener, more sustainable living platforms. The main stumbling block, in most countries, is that older, non-sustainable housing is already available. Many people are not in the position to build new homes or change out infrastructure.
I have said before, that my dad, who is 85, sees the benefit of sustainable energy and just installed solar panels to supply the energy for my parents’ home. The solar company has an innovative program, where they install the panels on the roof for free. The homeowner then pays the company an affordable monthly fee for a fixed period. I would note that the fee is far lower than their original electricity bill, so it is a win for the homeowner and the environment. There are many small ways we can make our existing homes more sustainable, and every little effort benefits our whole world.
Creating new sustainable home projects provide inspiration for the future, and show us what is possible at this time. A beautiful passive energy home was recently constructed in Romania. It features state-of-the-art technology, as well as construction methods that invite the natural world into the living space. It even has an indoor lawn to provide air filtration and oxygen, as well as inner peace. I think it is beautiful, and has my mind wandering to all the amazing green living spaces we will create in the future.
Passive House Che in Romania on Giz Mag
Moving on…
Boys meet a girl in a social experiment.
This video shares a short social experiment, filmed in Italy, to gauge the views of young boys related to violence against women. It is interesting to watch the reactions of the boys to each question they are asked.
While some may say the boys make choices based on the fact that they are filmed, you can see their true reaction in their body language and facial expressions. No spoilers, but in my view, it is an extremely telling and uplifting reflection on future beliefs about gender violence.
Boys meet girl social experiment on YouTube
And finally…
A wild animal friendship.
You know I love them. This video shares the interaction between a wild fox and his Alsatian pal. I sense that they are also learning new behaviors from each other, along with playing and running tirelessly. The fox exhibits behaviors, like tree climbing, that the dog attempts to mimic. I laughed like crazy when the dog shows the fox a stick and he almost shrugs his shoulders! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
A fox and dog friendship on YouTube
That’s the news for today. Have a breathtaking day filled with wonder. I hope to see you back here tomorrow for some Feel Good News.
Be Well. Be Joy. Be Love!
Alex