Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 11
A Simple Act of Kindness
Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is Episode #11 titled A Simple Act of Kindness.
In this episode, I am going to tell you up front that I may hurt your feelings. I may get under your skin. I may make you really angry because I may go against some of your beliefs. But, you know what, I don’t really care. And you know why?
I spoke with a friend the other day who listens to my podcast and this is a person whose opinion I value. Anyway Brenna told me that my podcast episode title Nature is Worthless made her really angry because she realized how things in our world needed to change and how slow people were to make those changes.
But you see, you must understand this is part of goal here. I want to make you question the norm. I want to make you question how you live and what you do and I want to stimulate your thinking processes and get you to take one simple step in the right direction of positive change and toward sustainability.
But, I also want you to know that this episode is somewhat more of a philosophical discussion, a thought process, and the production of this episode started with the question of “What if????
You may find this funny, in an odd sort of way, but I was sitting on my couch the other morning at 5:30 a.m. reading a book that is basically about international relationships. While it is likely a great leap of faith for you to believe that during my early morning coffee drinking and reading that I actually experienced somewhat of an epiphany. What I mean by this is that something fascinating occurred to me regarding the concepts of sustainability.
Instead of my spouting on and on all day long about recycling, how much waste we all produce, growing a garden, and perhaps verbally beating you over the head with a large bag of locally purchased produce, I want to propose a completely different idea.
Sustainability has just as much to do with relationships as it has to do with solar panels. Sustainability has just as much to do with relationships as it has to do with recycling. Sustainability has just as much to do with relationships as it has to do with being a smart consumer.
Someone told me once that the best time to make a friend is when you don’t need one. Allow me to explain.
You see, whether you like it or not, while you sit quietly in your living room at night watching a good movie, you are directly affected by the globalization that we are now experiencing. And yes it has its benefits and downsides just like anything else.
And yes even I have learned this valuable, if not painful lesson. As much as I pride myself on being independent, living sustainably, living off the grid in the middle of the forest, I learned a lesson a few years ago. I learned that as hard as I try to be independent, I too am affected by our national leadership and our national politics.
And you know because of the way I live and where I live, I may have one up on many people if the zombie apocalypse ever happens. However, I learned in a very real way that I cannot escape the affects of national politics and globalization. But, that is a different story and I bring this up just to make a point.
Now for the most part I try not to focus too much on national or global problems. I do this because such things are over whelming even for the most astute and educated person. I like to bring things down to the community or personal level simply because it is much easier for each of us to see how we can be a part of that.
The thing to understand is that we in fact have global problems. And those global problems are shared by a global community. Climate change is a perfect example. That problem is not going to be solved with just one nation acting on its own accord. It will require global cooperation with a focus on sustainability.
And you know what, here’s where I am going to perhaps loose some listeners. This political business about “American First” should not be a zero sum strategy.
In case you are not familiar with that, zero-sum is a situation in game theory in which one person’s gain is equivalent to another’s loss, so the net change in wealth or benefit is zero.
In my opinion, this is how our country approaches international relationships. We focus more on our gain and less on the greater good for the global community. Now as far as foreign policy is concerned, I know there are many people out there who would ask “Why should we care? Don’t we have enough problems in our own backyard?”
But what is shocking is that those are the sentiments echoed by 73% of respondents in an April 2017 poll focused on decreasing the use of tax dollars for foreign aid.
But what most people do not realize is that providing foreign aid is similar to making a friend when you don’t need one. It not only promotes economic prosperity but also opens new trading opportunities for the United States.
It is well known that extreme poverty, scare resources, inequality, ineffective governance, and weak institutions create leadership vacuums that are quickly filled by violent extremist groups bent on their own agendas regardless of international diplomacy and human rights violations.
According to the Friends Committee on National Legislation, investing $1 in prevention saves the world $10 in post-conflict recovery costs, and preventing a war is 60 times cheaper than fighting one.
Now please indulge me for a moment and allow me to give you a personal example.
Some 20 plus years ago, I met a guy named Tom. At the time, Tom had several young children. Tom and I met through a mutual friend. Despite a momentary rough start, we became good friends. I have watched Tom’s children grow into adults, go to college, get married, and buy their first home. Needless to say, we have know each other a long time.
During those years, we have helped each other through some difficult times. Sometimes, even showing up at each others house in the middle of the night with some sort of emergency. Each time we willingly help each other without question and no expectation except for our continued friendship.
The point being, if one family needs something, the other does not hesitate to ask or to help. This is the concept of trust and reciprocity which builds long-term relationships. And that is what it is like to have good friends and good neighbors.
So, let’s switch gears here. But bear with me because there is a point to this discussion. I want to take a moment to throw out a brief list of global issues:
Food scarcity and malnutrition
Water scarcity
Habitat and biodiversity loss
Marine conservation
Human rights issues and access to proper justice
Climate crisis and clean energy
Over consumption
Over population
Deforestation
Lack of gender equality
Ecological collapse
Biotechnology risk
Pollution
Violence and corruption
Security and well being
Lack of education
Shall I go on??
But you see, all of these things also affects our focus on sustainability. If we were all in a room and I give you a presentation that starts with all of these global problems and I end the discussion with “And oh by the way, please rush out and buy some solar panels” that is not going to be the best way to promote the long-term behavior that builds a sustainable world.
To solve such vast and enormous issues that we are faced with today, we must stop looking inward. Me first, me first, me first. Instead of “American First” maybe it should be “Humanity First”. This is the only way we will ever have a cooperative global community in order to solve our massive global problems and more toward a sustainable future.
But how shall I bring this back to Earth so to speak? How shall I bring this down to a personal level? Sometimes of course my best example is to dissect something from my own life.
I was on a trip to Ecuador about 10 years ago. I had decided to visit the community of Banos. It is a rather interesting community that not only sits on the very edge of a volcanic plateau but is towered by one of the most active volcanos in Ecuador. It is also one of the gateways to the Amazon basic.
At the time of my visit, the volcano was active and erupting on a small scale. I wanted to see the volcano and inquired locally about the trail the led to the summit. Needless to say, that trail was very steep indeed not to mention the elevation. It soon became obvious that I needed some physical conditioning in order to make this hike. So, I started hiking portions of the trail each day. I even purchased a 10 lb bag of rice to put in my pack for additional weight.
One morning, rather early, I started on the trail. I was slowly making my way up the trail when I was left in the dust so to speak by a rather elderly woman carrying a heavy pack full of staple goods. I was at the same time amazed and insulted. How could she possibly have such stamina at her age.
With constant conditioning, and several days later, I finally reached a point high on the side of the mountain where the woman lived with a man, presumably her husband, who looked even older that she was. They lived in a small home made of homemade bricks with a metal roof. The man very slowly walked around the property with a cane.
It then became obvious to me why his wife had such physical stamina. These people were very poor and obviously could not afford a horse or donkey for transportation. The only way they were able to have food and supplies was for her to hike back and forth to town on a regular basis.
Now with all of my travels and all the desperately poor villages I’d worked in over time, I must say that I was emotionally moved by their situation. So much so, that I introduced myself, had a very nice long conversation, and was then invited into their home.
By the time I left, I felt as if I had made a new friend. But as I was leaving, I reached into my pack and gave them the 10 lb bag of rice. The older gentleman had tears streaming down his face as I received the best hug I think I’ve ever had. An embrace of gratitude after a simple act of kindness.
Now, I pose the question, what if each nation treated each other in the same way. What if we all treated each other the same way. A simple act of kindness.
Yes, we are faced with massive global problems. Solving those problems will not be accomplished by looking inward, but by looking outward. In todays global community we cannot afford to keep focusing on America First. We are looking inward, not outward. We are asking the wrong questions.
You see as a people it does not matter so much what we have done, it only matters what we are going to do and it matters to the world what that has to do with them.
This is how we move forward as a global community and tackle the enormous task of building a sustainable future.
As you already know if you have listened to some of my previous episodes, I am one of those fortunate people that has no neighbors. But that was not always the case. There was a time when I was living in suburbia. What always amazed me is how long I lived in the same location and I never even knew my neighbors.
This was not the case when I was growing up in TN. It was not the case when I was living in a very small village in St Kitts while working for a university. Everyone knew everyone yet everyone also seemed to maintain a certain personal distance so as to not be in the middle of your business all the time.
While this may seem annoying by American personal standards, the ancillary benefit of this was a certain amount of personal security. For example the children in the neighborhood were watched closely by everyone. The houses in the neighborhood were watched closely by everyone. If something was happening that was illegal, not only did everyone know about it, but the people committing such acts never really got away with it. I specifically remember an incident when one child went missing. Literally everything was shut down. Businesses, traffic, parts of the university. Neighbors and many other people who did not even know the family involved stopped everything to search for this child. And yes there was a happy ending.
But you see, this is the kind of neighbors we should be. This is the kind of international neighbors we should be. I think we all agree that in so many ways we live in unprecedented times. Now is the time to build those relationships that will help us build a global sustainable future.
My challenge for you this week is two fold. Ask yourself the question “What is it that I stand for? What is it that my country stands for? Then I want you to take the time to commit a simple act of kindness and think about how such actions as a person, as a people, and as a nation would help us to move toward a global sustainable future.
As most of you likely know these days, there are a lot of people that really do not like Americans. Or maybe you don’t know this or maybe you would not know this unless you have traveled and lived abroad. But we can change that.
What we should all strive for is to be the kind of person that when someone thinks of you they should be saying “Thank God you exist in their life.” What people should be thinking at night in the last 10 seconds before they drift off to sleep is “Thank God the United States exists.”
As a person, as a people, as a nation, we are not going to take our place in the global community, nor are we ever going to take the lead into a sustainable future unless we change the way we behave.
Default toward generosity! Reach for a simple act of kindness and we all reach toward a sustainable future. We have to act as good neighbors, good nations, and good people if we are to solve our global problems. Yet all of that can start with a simple act of kindness.
I hope you will join me next week for another episode. And please remember, if you have enjoyed my material then subscribe to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. And also, if you would be so kind as to leave me with a review I would greatly appreciate your time and efforts.
That is all for now. This is for host Patrick sighing off.
Remember, always live sustainably.
Patrick
