If I Only Had 10 Minutes...
To share my thoughts before I died, what would I say?
I really enjoyed this life. Don't wait to do the things you want to do, the things you need to do, because the opportunities sometimes pass, and then their are regrets. I never wanted to be the one looking back from the end and wondering to myself, "is that it?", "is that all that there was?", and "what was the point"?
I think that the notion that there is something "better" after death can ruin our focus on life. We are destroying the Earth now. Earth is the paradise. We are here now. It is for us to act here, now, to stop destroying Earth, and to start cleaning up the mess we have made.
I am to blame. It is my fault that we're destroying Earth. Every time I spend money, I motivate more destruction. AND, the worst thing about is is that I KNOW that my use of money causes destruction, thus I am to blame for not sharing that knowledge, and moreso, for not doing everything I can to help others understand not only how money causes destruction, but sharing a vision of the future beyond money that does a better job at meeting all of our needs.
I feel bad that I destroyed so much of Earth. I feel sad that my son will grow up in a world that I damaged and destroyed. I am to blame. As Ghandi put it, one must take the suffering into onself, take on the responsibility for ones own life, ones own action, ones own complicity in the grand illusion.
Do not allow others to dictate what is right or wrong to learn. There is no right or wrong. To have such, there must be a universal standard, and there is none. Since there is no right and no wrong, all knowledge is available. History, for example, is filled with examples of incredible people who caused incredible changes. Some of these people have been demonized. Their thinking, reasoning, actions are just as valid, and perhaps more important to study, that the names that liter the history texts.
Given that there is no right or wrong, I still think one finds that saving ones family, species, and the entire community of life, is in itself extremely rewarding. We have evolved to love, to need, to be satisfied by doing certain things. Taking care of self does fulfill needs; as does taking care of family; both feel good because we evolved in this direction, and we are hard-wired to feel good when we take care of self and family. Family can not exist apart from humans, so saving our species should feel good. Our species can not exist without the community of life, so saving the Earth, and cleaning up what we have destroyed, can feel satisfying because it matches our hard-wired evolved desire to take care of our selves, and our family. For us humans, we can easily visualize extending this circle of compassion, and we can easily rationalize it.
Rationializing is one of humanities strongest, and most damaging, qualities. We can rationalize anything. In fact, of all things that we do, I doubt there are any that are seen to be "wrong" in the eyes of the actor at the moment they are done. Perhaps there are a few small exceptions, but for the most part, it is because we are able to rationalize that something is "right" or "good" that we do those things.
Seconds remain... We are destroying Earth. We can stop destroying Earth and clean up our mess. It starts with taking the blame into ourselves and recognizing that we are the only ones that can solve the problem. Start within ourselves, and welcome others who are on that same path, and show others how this path can very effectively serve to meet our needs. In the end, if the path to restoration of Earth meets our needs better than the current destructive path, then we will do it, but the vision of this future is necessary to lead us to this wonderful destination.
I really enjoyed this life. Don't wait to do the things you want to do, the things you need to do, because the opportunities sometimes pass, and then their are regrets. I never wanted to be the one looking back from the end and wondering to myself, "is that it?", "is that all that there was?", and "what was the point"?
I think that the notion that there is something "better" after death can ruin our focus on life. We are destroying the Earth now. Earth is the paradise. We are here now. It is for us to act here, now, to stop destroying Earth, and to start cleaning up the mess we have made.
I am to blame. It is my fault that we're destroying Earth. Every time I spend money, I motivate more destruction. AND, the worst thing about is is that I KNOW that my use of money causes destruction, thus I am to blame for not sharing that knowledge, and moreso, for not doing everything I can to help others understand not only how money causes destruction, but sharing a vision of the future beyond money that does a better job at meeting all of our needs.
I feel bad that I destroyed so much of Earth. I feel sad that my son will grow up in a world that I damaged and destroyed. I am to blame. As Ghandi put it, one must take the suffering into onself, take on the responsibility for ones own life, ones own action, ones own complicity in the grand illusion.
Do not allow others to dictate what is right or wrong to learn. There is no right or wrong. To have such, there must be a universal standard, and there is none. Since there is no right and no wrong, all knowledge is available. History, for example, is filled with examples of incredible people who caused incredible changes. Some of these people have been demonized. Their thinking, reasoning, actions are just as valid, and perhaps more important to study, that the names that liter the history texts.
Given that there is no right or wrong, I still think one finds that saving ones family, species, and the entire community of life, is in itself extremely rewarding. We have evolved to love, to need, to be satisfied by doing certain things. Taking care of self does fulfill needs; as does taking care of family; both feel good because we evolved in this direction, and we are hard-wired to feel good when we take care of self and family. Family can not exist apart from humans, so saving our species should feel good. Our species can not exist without the community of life, so saving the Earth, and cleaning up what we have destroyed, can feel satisfying because it matches our hard-wired evolved desire to take care of our selves, and our family. For us humans, we can easily visualize extending this circle of compassion, and we can easily rationalize it.
Rationializing is one of humanities strongest, and most damaging, qualities. We can rationalize anything. In fact, of all things that we do, I doubt there are any that are seen to be "wrong" in the eyes of the actor at the moment they are done. Perhaps there are a few small exceptions, but for the most part, it is because we are able to rationalize that something is "right" or "good" that we do those things.
Seconds remain... We are destroying Earth. We can stop destroying Earth and clean up our mess. It starts with taking the blame into ourselves and recognizing that we are the only ones that can solve the problem. Start within ourselves, and welcome others who are on that same path, and show others how this path can very effectively serve to meet our needs. In the end, if the path to restoration of Earth meets our needs better than the current destructive path, then we will do it, but the vision of this future is necessary to lead us to this wonderful destination.