There has been this song, or at least a line of a song, rattling around in my mind this past week. I don't know for sure if it's from a Saturday morning cartoon, or Sesame Street or the Electric Company or where exactly I remember it from so many years ago.
The line is this: That's about the size, where you put your eyes? That's about the size of it. (It's a lot better sung than just reading it). If anyone knows where it is from, please let me know.
The song was about how we see things. About how differently objects appear depending on how close or how far away from them we are. It came to me Monday while I was out mowing the back yard. I started thinking about how small the yard seems today compared to when I was growing up.
Years ago, I would leap off the swing and begin running for the far end of the yard. Because it took so long to reach my destination, I would turn around half way and go back to the swing.
Today, there is almost nothing to it. Unless of course the temperature is 90 degrees, it has rained for a week straight, the grass is 2 feet tall, trees begin growing in the fences, the sun beats down brighter than ever before and the mower keeps clogging up because of it all. Then it is a huge yard.
It's all in how you look at it.
Speaking of how we see things, there is a danger in doing the same things the same way day after day. We become blinded to so much that is out there. Everything seems the same, looks the same, smells the same, goes by at the same pace, day--after day--after day.
We put ourselves into a sort of rut because we only see things in one way. While it makes us feel better to blame our job, our boss, our friends, our in-laws, the dog, telemarketers, co-workers, the weather, our pet rock or just because we were born under a bad sign for our life as it is, truth is, it has all been our choice.
Because in most cases, we have gotten ourselves into this, we can change it. To do it, we need to see things differently.
In Dead Poets Society, John Keating (played by Robin Williams) is an English teacher who wants to get his students to see life differently than they have.
To do so, he begins in a small way? by having them stand up on his desk in the classroom. It is just a classroom. The same classroom they have come to day after day. But seeing things from 29 inches off the ground can provide an entirely different view of the world.
Now I don't advise anyone to knock off everything from the dining room table and climb on top, just keep it simple. Take a different way to work, re-arrange furniture, change your routine a little bit. You'll be surprised at how different 1 hour can make things seem.
Finally, perception is something in which 650 words can not do justice. There is so much more to it than just seeing things differently, although that has a lot to do with it.
There are still our perceptions of ourselves, of our surroundings, of others, of what others think of us, of what we think others think of us and so many more combinations.
In a way, perception is who we are, who we can be, what we can do and where we can go. The best news? We have the power. We are in control. We can change it if we don't like what we see. As the song says, (and maybe a bit of a re-write can be used someday), that's about the size, where I put my eyes? that's about the size of that.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
On Failing To Discover The Meaning Of Life
We did not choose to be born. Without our permission, we were pitched into this world, to live out seventy or eighty years, to act out our unique scripts in life. Each of those millions of actions had a purpose. It achieved an objective. Just to pick up a cup of tea, or to become an accountant. Achieving objectives gave progressive meanings to our activities. The mason who felt he was just laying bricks was less satisfied than the one who believed he was building a cathedral. Finding deeper meanings satisfied us. So, it was but natural to gaze beyond our individual careers at the meaning of life itself. Greater satisfaction came from fulfilment of a nobler purpose.
Religion offered a a compelling vision of a divine and benevolent purpose. It acted in the best of all possible worlds, for the well being of all. If there was pain and distress, the beneficent deity had willed it to steel humanity to ever greater triumphs. Everything happened for the best. But, for a few people, there was a flaw in this view. Disaster was hardly necessary for improvement. The finest periods of creativity of the human race occurred during periods of peace and prosperity, not in times of famine and disease, or earthquakes and floods. It stretched credibility to believe that a hundred thousand people could be crushed in an earthquake for their own good. To sceptics, the world appeared iniquitous. But, they often avoided despair by accepting the random quality of life. For these, just fighting back gave meaning to life.
But, the religious sometimes failed to discover any visible benign purpose behind epic disasters. This troubled some. The sceptics, on the other hand, wondered if it was so weightily important to survive in the this all too brief span of time in this infinitesimally small speck in the universe. What was so special about survival, if the earth was to end a dead planet hurtling through black space? What was the purpose of all this suffering? Whatever their convictions, the search for a meaning in life troubled both the religious and the sceptics. In spite of their doubts, finding meaning was crucial.
The famed psychiatrist, Frankl, survived the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, to narrate the dreaded moment, when a fellow prisoner ceased to struggle for life. Usually, the prisoner refused to go out on to the parade grounds. "He just lay there, hardly moving. No entreaties, no blows, no threats had any effect. He simply gave up. There he remained, lying in his own excreta, and nothing bothered him any more." His life had lost its meaning. Such people died soon after.
But, despite the meaningless torture and beatings, thousands of inmates still struggled against all odds to eke out a life. Frankl submitted that it was a purpose in life, whatever it was, which helped them to survive. These were not large purposes. A hope of meeting a son after the war was a purpose. Even a decision to harden oneself against suffering was a sufficient purpose. After the war, Frankl established a major field in psychiatry, assisting thousands of suicidal patients around the world to recover by discovering an acceptable purpose in life.
In reality, the need to find a purpose in life was built into our neural circuits. Emotions granted us short term purpose. Anger sought retribution; hunger, a search for food; fear a drive to escape. Each drive intelligently sought its own objective and rewarded its achievement with pleasure. The thrill one felt came from built in pleasure circuits fashioned by nature. Those circuits powered drives, which successfully achieved a range of survival activities in a complex and hostile world. The drive circuits carried within them a massive depth of experience and wisdom. The noblest goals of mankind and its most evil instincts were drives, inherited from millions of years of history. One of those drives was a search for meaning - an instinctual drive, like hunger.
Across history, mankind searched the heavens to discover meaning. Religions offered a wide range of possible meanings, each favouring a particular divine purpose. But, religion failed to find meaning in horrifying disasters. For the sceptic, without the support of religion, a fearful existence on a tiny planet appeared utterly pointless. Both suspected that life appeared to have no meaning. Where could we go from there? There was an answer. We had to understand this obsessive human need to find meaning. It was merely another instinctual drive. A craving. Such drives could be calmed. Just an awareness alone could still the need. After all, it was hardly so urgent to discover that cosmic meaning.
Freed from this need, it was easier to fit into society, contribute our mite and satisfy the demands of our minds. We could be content with discovering reasonable purposes. Frankl had proved that simpler purposes sufficiently enabled prisoners to withstand even the most meaningless excesses of life. Hunger did not demand that we gorge ourselves. A reasonable repast was sufficient to satisfy our craving. So also, it was hardly necessary to feast ourselves on understanding the global purpose of the universe. Just as there was little need to travel to a distant galaxy to satisfy our curiosity. It was enough to be happy with finding our own role in society.
Religion offered a a compelling vision of a divine and benevolent purpose. It acted in the best of all possible worlds, for the well being of all. If there was pain and distress, the beneficent deity had willed it to steel humanity to ever greater triumphs. Everything happened for the best. But, for a few people, there was a flaw in this view. Disaster was hardly necessary for improvement. The finest periods of creativity of the human race occurred during periods of peace and prosperity, not in times of famine and disease, or earthquakes and floods. It stretched credibility to believe that a hundred thousand people could be crushed in an earthquake for their own good. To sceptics, the world appeared iniquitous. But, they often avoided despair by accepting the random quality of life. For these, just fighting back gave meaning to life.
But, the religious sometimes failed to discover any visible benign purpose behind epic disasters. This troubled some. The sceptics, on the other hand, wondered if it was so weightily important to survive in the this all too brief span of time in this infinitesimally small speck in the universe. What was so special about survival, if the earth was to end a dead planet hurtling through black space? What was the purpose of all this suffering? Whatever their convictions, the search for a meaning in life troubled both the religious and the sceptics. In spite of their doubts, finding meaning was crucial.
The famed psychiatrist, Frankl, survived the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, to narrate the dreaded moment, when a fellow prisoner ceased to struggle for life. Usually, the prisoner refused to go out on to the parade grounds. "He just lay there, hardly moving. No entreaties, no blows, no threats had any effect. He simply gave up. There he remained, lying in his own excreta, and nothing bothered him any more." His life had lost its meaning. Such people died soon after.
But, despite the meaningless torture and beatings, thousands of inmates still struggled against all odds to eke out a life. Frankl submitted that it was a purpose in life, whatever it was, which helped them to survive. These were not large purposes. A hope of meeting a son after the war was a purpose. Even a decision to harden oneself against suffering was a sufficient purpose. After the war, Frankl established a major field in psychiatry, assisting thousands of suicidal patients around the world to recover by discovering an acceptable purpose in life.
In reality, the need to find a purpose in life was built into our neural circuits. Emotions granted us short term purpose. Anger sought retribution; hunger, a search for food; fear a drive to escape. Each drive intelligently sought its own objective and rewarded its achievement with pleasure. The thrill one felt came from built in pleasure circuits fashioned by nature. Those circuits powered drives, which successfully achieved a range of survival activities in a complex and hostile world. The drive circuits carried within them a massive depth of experience and wisdom. The noblest goals of mankind and its most evil instincts were drives, inherited from millions of years of history. One of those drives was a search for meaning - an instinctual drive, like hunger.
Across history, mankind searched the heavens to discover meaning. Religions offered a wide range of possible meanings, each favouring a particular divine purpose. But, religion failed to find meaning in horrifying disasters. For the sceptic, without the support of religion, a fearful existence on a tiny planet appeared utterly pointless. Both suspected that life appeared to have no meaning. Where could we go from there? There was an answer. We had to understand this obsessive human need to find meaning. It was merely another instinctual drive. A craving. Such drives could be calmed. Just an awareness alone could still the need. After all, it was hardly so urgent to discover that cosmic meaning.
Freed from this need, it was easier to fit into society, contribute our mite and satisfy the demands of our minds. We could be content with discovering reasonable purposes. Frankl had proved that simpler purposes sufficiently enabled prisoners to withstand even the most meaningless excesses of life. Hunger did not demand that we gorge ourselves. A reasonable repast was sufficient to satisfy our craving. So also, it was hardly necessary to feast ourselves on understanding the global purpose of the universe. Just as there was little need to travel to a distant galaxy to satisfy our curiosity. It was enough to be happy with finding our own role in society.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
How To Enjoy A Happy Life
"Don't Worry, Be Happy," sings Bob Marley. But happiness appears to be a lost art. The stress of day to day living has made us worried and very unhappy. Our scarce resources don't seem sufficient to balance the demand.
Yet is worry itself only an illusion? A bad habit? A self-defeating way of thinking?
Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful. It is also good for your health. Being happy actually protects you from stress.
Worry, on the other hand, creates stress, which itself is linked to heart disease, cancer and stroke.
How can you embrace change, stop worrying, and feel happy?
Make A Decision To Be Happy
"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be," said Abraham Lincoln.
To be happy is relatively easy. Just decide to be a happy person. Abraham Lincoln observed that most people can choose how happy or unhappy they want to be. Wouldn't you rather be relaxed rather than tense, bright rather than gloomy?
The choice is simple: choose to be happy.
Happiness, then, as Abraham Lincoln pointed out, is actually a decision. It's not based on a perfect equilibrium in all your affairs. It's based on a choice to adopt an optimistic view. If you're going to wait for everything to be perfect before you give yourself permission to be happy, you may catch a window of opportunity only once or twice in a lifetime.
Improve Your Relationships
One certain way to be happy is to make all your relationships positive ones.
Social networks are essential for happiness. People are different, accept them the way they are. Avoid clashes. Shun arguments. Let go of resentments. If an argument seems inevitable, try and understand the situation from the other person's perspective before you lose your temper. Often, this expansion of perception, is enough to end disagreements and misunderstandings.
Happiness is our natural birthright. Everyone has that capacity. Increasing it can make life wonderful. You'll also feel healthy, think clearly, and do everything better.
Adopt An Attitude Of Gratitude
Being grateful is a great attitude. We have much to be thankful for. Thank the sun for rising, the sky for its beauty, and the meadows and hills for bright, living colors.
Thank the air and the water for sustaining your life; the food placed before you for nourishing you; the work given to your hands to do to provide all your material needs.
Thank the people who think you're special.
There is no limit on things to be grateful for.
Avoid Malcontents
Life is a challenge and many people develop a peculiar joy from sharing their "ain't it awful" stories with you.
Somehow, after listening to them gossip or whine, you suddenly feel empty and defeated.
While you may enjoy offering a friendly word of advice, prefer to spend your time associating with happier people.
If you can't get enough bad news, then turn on the radio or television.
People who are miserable can sap your energy. Do you really want to spend your time with them? It's just as easy to find uplifting joyful companionship and tune into information that is informative and inspiring.
Avoid Ugly Environments
Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.
Tune In To The Infinite
A spiritual perspective can tune you into the big picture. All of life is evolving before your very eyes. Relish the adventure of being here, now.
Do things that remind you of your own spiritual nature. For some, it is walking out in nature, for others it is a formal practice like meditation, contemplation, or joining a like-minded group.
Manage Your Time
Manage your time. Time is invaluable and too important to waste. Time management can make every part of your life work better.
Time management involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing.
With just a modicum of effort, you can develop efficient personal time management skills.
Make Time For Humor
Watch funny movies, listen to and share jokes, and do things that make you feel silly and light-hearted. Life has its hilarious side as well.
Share Your Affection
Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most likely reciprocate. Try to release pent up anger or frustration. Be slow to anger and quick to forgive. It makes life for everyone, including yourself, so much easier.
Do Work You Love Working hard brings tremendous personal satisfaction. You feel competent when you finish your tasks. Accomplishments are necessary for all of us. They give us a sense of value. Work on things that you feel worthy of your time. Love what you do and do what you love. It's a great way to make more money because your energy is aligned with your desires. Enjoy Learning New Things
Learning is a joyful experience. Try and learn something new every day. Learning broadens your horizons. It also improves what you can do and be in the future.
Get In Touch With Your Body
Run, jog, walk, exercise, make love. Get in touch with your body. Be present in your body. Feel alive in it. These are just a few simple things you can do everyday to be happy. Once you think about it, you can come up with quite a few more.
The best place to start right now is to remember the quote from Abraham Lincoln, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
The pursuit of happiness may be easier than you think.
About the Author
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas His book Never Ever Give Up tells you how. It is offered at no cost as a way to help YOU succeed. The Empowered Soul
Yet is worry itself only an illusion? A bad habit? A self-defeating way of thinking?
Living a happy, resilient and optimistic life is wonderful. It is also good for your health. Being happy actually protects you from stress.
Worry, on the other hand, creates stress, which itself is linked to heart disease, cancer and stroke.
How can you embrace change, stop worrying, and feel happy?
Make A Decision To Be Happy
"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be," said Abraham Lincoln.
To be happy is relatively easy. Just decide to be a happy person. Abraham Lincoln observed that most people can choose how happy or unhappy they want to be. Wouldn't you rather be relaxed rather than tense, bright rather than gloomy?
The choice is simple: choose to be happy.
Happiness, then, as Abraham Lincoln pointed out, is actually a decision. It's not based on a perfect equilibrium in all your affairs. It's based on a choice to adopt an optimistic view. If you're going to wait for everything to be perfect before you give yourself permission to be happy, you may catch a window of opportunity only once or twice in a lifetime.
Improve Your Relationships
One certain way to be happy is to make all your relationships positive ones.
Social networks are essential for happiness. People are different, accept them the way they are. Avoid clashes. Shun arguments. Let go of resentments. If an argument seems inevitable, try and understand the situation from the other person's perspective before you lose your temper. Often, this expansion of perception, is enough to end disagreements and misunderstandings.
Happiness is our natural birthright. Everyone has that capacity. Increasing it can make life wonderful. You'll also feel healthy, think clearly, and do everything better.
Adopt An Attitude Of Gratitude
Being grateful is a great attitude. We have much to be thankful for. Thank the sun for rising, the sky for its beauty, and the meadows and hills for bright, living colors.
Thank the air and the water for sustaining your life; the food placed before you for nourishing you; the work given to your hands to do to provide all your material needs.
Thank the people who think you're special.
There is no limit on things to be grateful for.
Avoid Malcontents
Life is a challenge and many people develop a peculiar joy from sharing their "ain't it awful" stories with you.
Somehow, after listening to them gossip or whine, you suddenly feel empty and defeated.
While you may enjoy offering a friendly word of advice, prefer to spend your time associating with happier people.
If you can't get enough bad news, then turn on the radio or television.
People who are miserable can sap your energy. Do you really want to spend your time with them? It's just as easy to find uplifting joyful companionship and tune into information that is informative and inspiring.
Avoid Ugly Environments
Avoid exposure to negative elements like loud noises, toxins and hazardous places.
Tune In To The Infinite
A spiritual perspective can tune you into the big picture. All of life is evolving before your very eyes. Relish the adventure of being here, now.
Do things that remind you of your own spiritual nature. For some, it is walking out in nature, for others it is a formal practice like meditation, contemplation, or joining a like-minded group.
Manage Your Time
Manage your time. Time is invaluable and too important to waste. Time management can make every part of your life work better.
Time management involves scheduling, setting goals, planning, creating lists of things to do and prioritizing.
With just a modicum of effort, you can develop efficient personal time management skills.
Make Time For Humor
Watch funny movies, listen to and share jokes, and do things that make you feel silly and light-hearted. Life has its hilarious side as well.
Share Your Affection
Express your feelings, affections, friendship and passion to people around you. They will most likely reciprocate. Try to release pent up anger or frustration. Be slow to anger and quick to forgive. It makes life for everyone, including yourself, so much easier.
Do Work You Love Working hard brings tremendous personal satisfaction. You feel competent when you finish your tasks. Accomplishments are necessary for all of us. They give us a sense of value. Work on things that you feel worthy of your time. Love what you do and do what you love. It's a great way to make more money because your energy is aligned with your desires. Enjoy Learning New Things
Learning is a joyful experience. Try and learn something new every day. Learning broadens your horizons. It also improves what you can do and be in the future.
Get In Touch With Your Body
Run, jog, walk, exercise, make love. Get in touch with your body. Be present in your body. Feel alive in it. These are just a few simple things you can do everyday to be happy. Once you think about it, you can come up with quite a few more.
The best place to start right now is to remember the quote from Abraham Lincoln, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
The pursuit of happiness may be easier than you think.
About the Author
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas His book Never Ever Give Up tells you how. It is offered at no cost as a way to help YOU succeed. The Empowered Soul
Honesty In Marriage
Humans are not particularly honest creatures. We pretend we are, but really in the end, when we pile up all the individual little "I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings" lies, we aren't brazenly honest at all. Is this a bad thing? Is being honest with your spouse 100% of the time a really good idea? Aren't there times when we shouldn't spill our guts, not even to our spouse? Or should we pride ourselves on being completely honest all the time no matter what? Unfortunately, honesty isn't as black and white of a topic as it should be.
Do you offer up to your spouse that the first time the two of you were sexually intimate it was rather disappointing, especially since it has gotten so much better? What good does that do? Is that different than if it is still continuously disappointing? Then what?
Most psychologists claim that if there is something to be gained on the scale of overall positive, then it is definitely worth being completely open with a spouse. However, most psychologists claim that if there is absolutely nothing to be gained on either side of the relationship, you may be fishing in dangerous waters.
Honesty can be a complicated subject. Honesty is in fact a cornerstone of a healthy relationship, and for most topics it is vital that honesty is laid out on the table. Being dishonest about something from the past, your true feelings about important topics, and your ultimate desires is naturally a cataclysmic event waiting to happen. Sucking down your husband's first attempt at cooking dinner isn't necessarily a bad lie, but then again you're probably going to have to suck it down again the next time he tries to be sweet.
So where is that magic line between knowing when to be honest, which is more than likely to result in hurt feelings, and when to pull back and allow an assumption to be made or even telling a bold face lie?
Lies are dangerous. Once you start with the little lies which make things easier and save feelings from absorbing pain, it becomes easier to tell lies just to make things easier. Then of course there are the lies that are told to cover up the lies that were meant to just make things a little easier. Before you know it, you're going to need a little black and white composition book to keep the lies straight. How incredibly disrespectful is all this lying to the spouse you're intending not to hurt?
Being able to rely on a spouse, whether it's a simple subtle suggestion to reconsider the clothes you though were a good idea to wear to work to knowing that they'll call you on your behavior when you're wrong, is a vital piece of any healthy relationship. It's part of what keeps us accountable and in a state of healthy growth. There is of course a significant difference between having open and honest discussions which lead to growth and being a "yes" spouse. Honesty flows in both directions, from voicing a feeling about a situation to disagreeing with the other's viewpoint. Honesty is about maintaining the integrity of each person in the relationship, which in turn maintains the integrity of the relationship.
Some people believe in a 100% honest relationship. However, most people can't really handle 100% honesty all of the time. The majority of people fall into more of an 85-90% honesty range. This means they choose to ignore the dinner that was marginally edible and they haven't made a fuss about the ten extra pounds their spouse has put on and they simply avoid topics that would just be hurtful with no resolution at the end.
There's no denying that honesty can be painful, both for the individual delivering honesty as well as the individual receiving the honesty. Yet keeping honest thoughts and feelings inside to avoid conflict often results in the blurting out of an honest feeling during a heated moment. Now, on top of the original argument, there is an additional issue piled on to already sensitive feelings coupled with the fact that you obviously lied about it before. This can get messy. Being honest with your spouse is vital to opening communication. Even when honesty and truths make people momentarily uncomfortable, it is vital to open communication and to resolving conflicts which can ultimately mean the difference between developing a strong relationship and growing apart to the point of no return.
Do you offer up to your spouse that the first time the two of you were sexually intimate it was rather disappointing, especially since it has gotten so much better? What good does that do? Is that different than if it is still continuously disappointing? Then what?
Most psychologists claim that if there is something to be gained on the scale of overall positive, then it is definitely worth being completely open with a spouse. However, most psychologists claim that if there is absolutely nothing to be gained on either side of the relationship, you may be fishing in dangerous waters.
Honesty can be a complicated subject. Honesty is in fact a cornerstone of a healthy relationship, and for most topics it is vital that honesty is laid out on the table. Being dishonest about something from the past, your true feelings about important topics, and your ultimate desires is naturally a cataclysmic event waiting to happen. Sucking down your husband's first attempt at cooking dinner isn't necessarily a bad lie, but then again you're probably going to have to suck it down again the next time he tries to be sweet.
So where is that magic line between knowing when to be honest, which is more than likely to result in hurt feelings, and when to pull back and allow an assumption to be made or even telling a bold face lie?
Lies are dangerous. Once you start with the little lies which make things easier and save feelings from absorbing pain, it becomes easier to tell lies just to make things easier. Then of course there are the lies that are told to cover up the lies that were meant to just make things a little easier. Before you know it, you're going to need a little black and white composition book to keep the lies straight. How incredibly disrespectful is all this lying to the spouse you're intending not to hurt?
Being able to rely on a spouse, whether it's a simple subtle suggestion to reconsider the clothes you though were a good idea to wear to work to knowing that they'll call you on your behavior when you're wrong, is a vital piece of any healthy relationship. It's part of what keeps us accountable and in a state of healthy growth. There is of course a significant difference between having open and honest discussions which lead to growth and being a "yes" spouse. Honesty flows in both directions, from voicing a feeling about a situation to disagreeing with the other's viewpoint. Honesty is about maintaining the integrity of each person in the relationship, which in turn maintains the integrity of the relationship.
Some people believe in a 100% honest relationship. However, most people can't really handle 100% honesty all of the time. The majority of people fall into more of an 85-90% honesty range. This means they choose to ignore the dinner that was marginally edible and they haven't made a fuss about the ten extra pounds their spouse has put on and they simply avoid topics that would just be hurtful with no resolution at the end.
There's no denying that honesty can be painful, both for the individual delivering honesty as well as the individual receiving the honesty. Yet keeping honest thoughts and feelings inside to avoid conflict often results in the blurting out of an honest feeling during a heated moment. Now, on top of the original argument, there is an additional issue piled on to already sensitive feelings coupled with the fact that you obviously lied about it before. This can get messy. Being honest with your spouse is vital to opening communication. Even when honesty and truths make people momentarily uncomfortable, it is vital to open communication and to resolving conflicts which can ultimately mean the difference between developing a strong relationship and growing apart to the point of no return.
How You Can Give Better Holiday Gifts AND Be More
It's the holiday shopping season, and Grinning Planet would like to point out that the holiday phrase "Ho, ho, ho!" also relates to being green--it's the Jolly Green Giant's tagline. Well, OK, that doesn't exactly get us to the "eco-friendly" meaning of being green. But when shopping for holiday gifts, there are a number of ways we can be environmentally friendly.
All manufactured items, including gifts, require material and energy to be produced, and production and transportation of the items results in some level of pollution. Here are a couple of ways to make sure those resources aren't a waste:
1) Useful Gifts -- One of the best ways to ensure the resources related to your gift don't get wasted is to make sure your gift doesn't end up gathering dust in a closet. While "surprises" can be nice, giving someone a gift out of the blue without any clue whether they'll truly like it or use it may get you one of those half-hearted "Um, oh, cool, thanks" responses. A different approach is to ask your giftees for wish lists, which works especially well within families, where social protocols and rituals can be more easily adjusted. This lessens the surprise factor but guarantees that you're giving a gift that the person will use.
2) Drawing Names -- As families and circles of friends grow, the number of gifts being exchanged can increase rapidly. Rather than each person within a group giving a gift to every other member of the group, names can be drawn so that each person gives gifts to only one or two people. This reduces the overall amount of resources related to presents and will reduce your holiday stress level. It may be too late this year to implement such a strategy, but if you'd like to try it next year, suggesting the change to your family/friends just after this holiday season will give people time to think about it and adjust to the idea.
Regardless of how you arrange your gift giving, choosing environmentally friendly products will be better for the planet than buying everyone an economy sized bottle of cloying cologne or some other non-green item. When looking at items claiming to be green, the US Federal Trade Commission advises that shoppers look for quantitative or specific claims, rather than general claims like "green," "eco-friendly," or "environmentally safe," which are open to interpretation. Better descriptions are things like "made from organic cotton," "made from 50% recycled materials," or "manufactured without animal testing."
Here are a few categories of gifts that would be more eco-friendly than some others:
1) Organic -- A gift basket of food is a typical holiday gift that's even better if at least part of the basket is filled with organic yummies. If you know someone who is a coffee lover, they will flip over the bag of organic gourmet coffee you give them. Organic flowers are available, as are flower arrangements that are not organic but whose growers minimize their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic cotton clothing and bedding are also making rapid gains in popularity. 2) Fair trade -- Buying fair-trade items--items typically made by indigenous peoples--often helps the creators sustain themselves without resorting to environmentally unwise practices such as clearcutting forests. Whether it's art, coffee, chocolate, soaps, or carpets, buying items labeled "fair trade" lets you avoid purchasing gifts that were produced by companies that use exploitative labor practices.
3) Recycled -- These days, lots of things are made out of recycled materials--from works of art to clothing. A great holiday gift might be some of the very cool clothes they now make from recycled cotton. Some eco-friendly clothing even includes 50% fibers from recycled plastic bottles.
4) Honorary Gifts -- How much stuff does anyone really need? Once we reach a certain age, getting more "stuff" is as much a storage problem as anything else. Donating money to a person's favorite charity or cause in their name is a nice substitute. To some extent, a nice holiday get-together with family and friends, full of good cheer and warm conversation, is as good a gift as many of us really need. But for the instances where a gift is appropriate, here's a good starting point for your eco-friendly shopping: Grinning Planet's Green Products and Services page ( http://www.grinningplanet.com/5005/green-products-services.htm ).
(Disclaimer: Grinning Planet does not receive any commission from the companies listed on the Green Products and Services page.)
Finally, we'd like to put in a word for our dear departed Uncle Freeman. When cash got short, he still never skimped on the Christmas gifts--he just sent them C.O.D. For jokes, cartoons, and more great environmental information, visit http://www.grinningplanet.com .
� 2003 by GrinningPlanet.com You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. Must be published complete with no changes. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
All manufactured items, including gifts, require material and energy to be produced, and production and transportation of the items results in some level of pollution. Here are a couple of ways to make sure those resources aren't a waste:
1) Useful Gifts -- One of the best ways to ensure the resources related to your gift don't get wasted is to make sure your gift doesn't end up gathering dust in a closet. While "surprises" can be nice, giving someone a gift out of the blue without any clue whether they'll truly like it or use it may get you one of those half-hearted "Um, oh, cool, thanks" responses. A different approach is to ask your giftees for wish lists, which works especially well within families, where social protocols and rituals can be more easily adjusted. This lessens the surprise factor but guarantees that you're giving a gift that the person will use.
2) Drawing Names -- As families and circles of friends grow, the number of gifts being exchanged can increase rapidly. Rather than each person within a group giving a gift to every other member of the group, names can be drawn so that each person gives gifts to only one or two people. This reduces the overall amount of resources related to presents and will reduce your holiday stress level. It may be too late this year to implement such a strategy, but if you'd like to try it next year, suggesting the change to your family/friends just after this holiday season will give people time to think about it and adjust to the idea.
Regardless of how you arrange your gift giving, choosing environmentally friendly products will be better for the planet than buying everyone an economy sized bottle of cloying cologne or some other non-green item. When looking at items claiming to be green, the US Federal Trade Commission advises that shoppers look for quantitative or specific claims, rather than general claims like "green," "eco-friendly," or "environmentally safe," which are open to interpretation. Better descriptions are things like "made from organic cotton," "made from 50% recycled materials," or "manufactured without animal testing."
Here are a few categories of gifts that would be more eco-friendly than some others:
1) Organic -- A gift basket of food is a typical holiday gift that's even better if at least part of the basket is filled with organic yummies. If you know someone who is a coffee lover, they will flip over the bag of organic gourmet coffee you give them. Organic flowers are available, as are flower arrangements that are not organic but whose growers minimize their use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic cotton clothing and bedding are also making rapid gains in popularity. 2) Fair trade -- Buying fair-trade items--items typically made by indigenous peoples--often helps the creators sustain themselves without resorting to environmentally unwise practices such as clearcutting forests. Whether it's art, coffee, chocolate, soaps, or carpets, buying items labeled "fair trade" lets you avoid purchasing gifts that were produced by companies that use exploitative labor practices.
3) Recycled -- These days, lots of things are made out of recycled materials--from works of art to clothing. A great holiday gift might be some of the very cool clothes they now make from recycled cotton. Some eco-friendly clothing even includes 50% fibers from recycled plastic bottles.
4) Honorary Gifts -- How much stuff does anyone really need? Once we reach a certain age, getting more "stuff" is as much a storage problem as anything else. Donating money to a person's favorite charity or cause in their name is a nice substitute. To some extent, a nice holiday get-together with family and friends, full of good cheer and warm conversation, is as good a gift as many of us really need. But for the instances where a gift is appropriate, here's a good starting point for your eco-friendly shopping: Grinning Planet's Green Products and Services page ( http://www.grinningplanet.com/5005/green-products-services.htm ).
(Disclaimer: Grinning Planet does not receive any commission from the companies listed on the Green Products and Services page.)
Finally, we'd like to put in a word for our dear departed Uncle Freeman. When cash got short, he still never skimped on the Christmas gifts--he just sent them C.O.D. For jokes, cartoons, and more great environmental information, visit http://www.grinningplanet.com .
� 2003 by GrinningPlanet.com You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. Must be published complete with no changes. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
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