Have you heard about Earth Hour?  Are you going to participate?  Watch this and find out what’s happening in your neighbourhood for Earth Hour.  It’s a chance to show our solidarity and commitment to making the planet a better place to live.

 

 

If you live here in Ireland check out www.change.ie .  Or to find out details of worldwide action, take a look at www.earthhour.org .  See what we can do to help our family, our community and our planet.

 

 

You all know the belief that we get what we focus on, right?  Well if you are positive thinking at specific times each day, but then meeting your friends or neighbours and doing the “Ain’t if awful” conversation, which are you doing more of?  Will your one hour’s meditation swing it against the three hours you moaned with your friends about the economy, the banks, the unemployment etc.?  I’m not saying stick your head in the sand and ignore it.  It’s real.  It’s happening.

 

But looking only at the bad means that we focus on the bad.  And if you believe that you get more of what you focus on … what do you think you’ll get?  A pay rise?  An offer of a great new job?  A big lotto win?  I don’t think so.

 

So, even when things globally look bad, or perhaps even moreso when they look bad, we need to focus on positive things.  They are always there.  Maybe we have to look harder.  For starters, lots of things have actually come down in price.  Lots of foodstuffs are cheaper than before the recession.  Buying locally can help support your own community.  Petrol (depending on where in the world you live) is cheaper than it was (though it’s creeping up again I notice).  For some people their mortgages are coming down.

 

So can we look at the real things please?  Have you lost your job?  No?  Then look out for ways you can support jobs in your neighbourhood.  That can be anything from paying a neighbour’s kid to mow your lawn or wash your car to employing local workers to build your house extension.  If you still have enough money coming in, try to spend it in your community and support your local economy.

 

And my favourite - barter!  I’m a big fan of exchange.  You can exchange goods e.g. why not have a “garage swap” instead of a “garage sale”?  If you have a service that you provide, why not exchange it for services others provide?  I don’t think there’s any law against it (if you know otherwise, please let me know because I’ll be in big trouble!).  It’s a fair exchange of services.  No money involved.  Just people helping each other out.

 

And finally, or perhaps it should be first, gratitude.  I know you’ll say it’s all Pollyanna-ish, and new-age, but there are always things you can be grateful for.  Start with the obvious - if you have good health, be grateful for that.  If you’re well enough to have a job in the first place you’re better off than people who were already unemployed and now have little or no hope of work.  If you can no longer afford to eat out, be grateful that you have friends that you can arrange dinner parties with.  Take turns to have dinner in different houses maybe once a month or so.  You may find that your friendships broadens through meeting new people at house parties.

 

I could devote an entire newsletter to “Things to be grateful for”, but you know the best ones in your own life.  If you’d like to share your favourite ones with me, I’ll be delighted.

 

Let’s stop pretending.  Of all the things going on in the economy, the world banks, the welfare systems of many countries, unemployment, lay-offs etc. let’s just stop pretending.  People are going round speaking in whispers about “the R word”, as if we daren’t say the word RECESSION.  Stop it people!  This is like not saying the name of a disease in case you might catch it just by speaking about it.  It’s not going to happen.  You are not going to lose your job because you talk about the jobs situation where you are.  You are not going to keep your job just because you never said the R word.  It’s real, it’s here and it’s here for a while.  So let’s stop pretending it isn’t, or that whispering about it will make it go away.

 

 

 

Another I’d really like is that - if you have notbeen affected by unemployment, or your pension going up the swanee, or the bank going boom with all your savings - I’d really like it if you would stop pretending that the recession is hurting you.  Stop being embarrassed by having a good job, that pays you well, and gives you enough money to continue to enjoy the good things.  You’ve worked for it.  Enjoy it!  Don’t buy into the drama of everyone having to suffer together.  I don’t mean you should gloat about your good fortune.  But you should be grateful for it and acknowledge it.

 

What you can do is to continue to spend as you would have before.  Support your locality by shopping in your local stores, use local tradespeople when you need jobs done, go to your local theatre, cinema, clubs etc.  Keep the economy moving as much as you can.  Keep employment going by paying fair wages to staff.  Keep morale high by not buying into the “ain’t it awful” brigade.  Don’t join them.  It will not help anyone.

 

Let’s look at what we can do, that might be useful.  How about volunteerism?  Why not look at volunteering in your neighbourhood.  You’ll find some activity that will suit your time and your nature, while serving the needs of your community.  It might be helping out with a local sports team, coaching, doing meals-on-wheels, being a driver for a day-care centre, collecting, fund-raising.  There is a huge range of things going on right now, in your own neighbourhood, that you can help with.  It’ll be good for your self-esteem, good for your self-development and great for your community.  How satisfying is that going to be?