And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Wednesday, April 09, 2008

It's Starting to Make Me Mad!

I may live with my head in the sand most of the time, but even I have to admit that the rising prices of gas, flour, and other necessities are rising at an alarming rate. I even admit that I am nowhere near ready to deal with an economy going down the toilet and all the changes that the "experts" are predicting.

Still, I have made (and am still making) changes in my day to day life to attempt to deal with things. I have planned a bigger garden, I drive less, I am paying closer attention to where our "money leaks" are, I am trying harder than ever to get us out of debt (the coming mortgage doesn't count).

Yet I look around and see people continuing to live their lives as if nothing is happening. Folks are going for pleasure jaunts in their gas guzzling SUVs, filling their carts at Wally-World with plastic junk and worthless doo-dads. Dumpsters are overflowing with items that either are in fine condition, should have been recycled, or never should have been made (much less purchased).

Quite frankly, it is making me a little mad. You and I both know that these same people doing this will be the first to raise their voices when things start getting really bad. They will be screaming at the tops of their lungs that the "gov'ment" should have done something, that they have rights, that someone needs to come save them.

The reality is that everyone needs to make changes and be responsible for their own actions. The reality is that what we are looking at now is (at the very least) the beginning of a recession. The reality is that folks need to check their priorities. Is it more important to protect yourself, your family, and the planet? or is it more important to have that newfangled whatsit? Take your pick, because the time has come where you can't have both....

5 comments:

AleciaMarie said...

I feel ya. I just wrote a pretty harsh post on my blog too. I work with a guy that drives a tricked out Hummer to work everyday and actually brags about how much money he has to spend to kep it full. He's an ass.

When will people FINALLY get it??

Wendy said...

See, this is where Yoga does me a lot of good. I know what my reality is, and I know that I can only change myself. Some really smart person said something to the effect of "be the change ...", and that's all we can do. Change your life, and I guarantee that you will have so many opportunities to share what you're learning with other people. Along the way there will be plenty of people with plenty to say, but even those people who are yelling at you about how it WON'T WORK will hear some of what you say, and they'll make changes.

My husband's uncle just got a bunch of chickens.

My mom is talking about growing her own tomatoes. In my entire life, she has NEVER had a garden that she planted and grew herself. NEVER!

It's going to take some really bad stuff to happen for most people to change, but if the experts are right, that's exactly what's going to happen.

Don't dispair. Do a couple of Yoga stretches, breath in, breath out, give thanks for the wonderful life you have and make your reality better. That's all YOU can do.

It used to piss me off too, but now, I think it's funny, and I look for opportunities to say, "Yeah, stuff is getting expensive ... so what are you doing about it?"

Deb said...

It makes me mad, and perplexed. Do people just have their heads too far up their arses to see the big picture? I personally feel it is my moral obligation to reduce my impact on this planet, but I work for an agency charged with protecting our natural resources while at the same time promoting ATV riding! Grrr...

RuthieJ said...

Oh Thank God, you voiced it, Barefoot! This post exactly summarizes all the thoughts that have been floating around in my head lately too. I truly believe that some people will never "get it," but I'm thankful that many of us are working on priorities and making our own efforts to do what we can to conserve our resources AND save the planet.

Kati said...

*grin* Yep. Esp having finally caved to a new car because I knew the old one wasn't getting as good gas milage as the new one, and yet wanting to hold off for the local governmental system to finally "get with it" as to public transport, then having to watch jack-@$$es in SUV's newer than my "new" car speed past me on the highway at 70 mph & I'm "putting" along at 57.

Or, the fact that my hubby just went & bought a new DVD/VHS player to replace our 4 year-old DVD player that died.

Or hearing that my dad just went & bought a new boat motor for a boat he's planning on hauling down to the states in a trailer behind his big ol' diesel chugging truck this summer.

Or that my SIL decided she needed a NEW crib for her third child when she's got 2 cribs from her two previous children stored down in grandma's garage.

Yep. You said it!