“Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.” – Clive Staples Lewis

The holiday season is the perfect time to practice the art of forgiveness. Bury the hatchets that have been stored in the cellar for so many months and/or years. Set your family or friends free from judgement and blame. In turn you’ll really be setting yourself free.

You’re life is nothing short of a miracle. You being right here, right now, is a remarkable feat of human perseverance. Don’t believe me? Then think about this:

In order for you to exist, there were countless others that had to endure hardship, famine, war, disease, and natural disaster. Many of us don’t think beyond three (Maybe four) generations, but the truth is that our existence follows a line of humanity that goes back to…well…the beginning. You are the legacy left by those who endured through the years.

Here are a few things that your ancestors had to endure in order for you to be here today (Just the last 2000 years):

0 – 476 AD: The Roman Empire

541 AD: Bubonic Plague

711 AD: The Moors

793 AD: The Vikings

1063 – 1295 AD: The Crusades

1162 -1227 AD: Genghis Khan

1480 – 1501 AD: Spanish Inqusition

1617 -1619: Small Pox (Multiple outbreaks within the Thirteen Colonies)

1845- 1852 AD:Great Famine (Irish Potato Famine)

1861 – 1865 AD: American Civil War

1905 AD: Bloody Sunday (Bolshevik Revolution)

1914 – 1919 AD: WWI (Mustard Gas)

1930 – 1936 AD: Dust Bowl Famine & Great Depression

1939 – 1945 AD: WWII (Holocaust & Atomic Bomb)

1948 – 1994 AD: Apartheid (South Africa)

1955 – 1968 AD: American Civil Rights Movement

1955 – 1975 AD: Vietnam War

1994 – 2000 AD: Rwandan Genocide

…. AND you’re still here.

I’ve been reading the Trappist Monk Thomas Merton lately and enjoying his thoughts on identity. I thought I’d share:

“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying Him. It “consents,” so to speak, to His creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.

The more a tree is like itself, the more it is like him. If it tried to be like something else which it was never intended to be, it would be less like God and therefore it would give Him less glory.

No two created beings are exactly alike. And their individuality is no imperfection. On the contrary, the perfection of each created thing is not merely in its conformity to an abstract type but in its own individual identity with itself. This particular tree will give glory to God by spreading out its roots in the earth and raising its branches into the air and the light in a way that no other tree before or after it ever did or will do.”

God is speaking. Are you listening?

Sometimes I’m not. It’s hard to listen when I’m listening to everything else – TV, Web, Work, Music.

I have my biggest “ah-ha” moments when I disengage from the world I’ve created and engage in my natural surroundings. God seems to high-light answers to questions once I become intentional about listening and seeing what’s around me.

Take some time this weekend to ask questions, see, and listen. He’s faithful to offer an answer.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir

He would know.

There are tons of blogs, web pages, and books dedicated to the concept of dreaming. It’s important to dream and think about things beyond one’s self.  It’s vital for our spirit to have a dream for our lives.  A dream keeps us going when we just want to throw up our hands and quit. It gives purpose to some of life’s mundane chores and errands. However, I don’t want to talk about the importance of having a dream. What I really want to do is ask a question. That question:

Is your dream really yours?

You’re gut reaction will probably be to say”yes, of course my dream is my own .” But think about it for a bit. Dive into your dream a little and pull back some layers. You might find out that your dream is really your parents, your best friend’s,  your spouse’s, or anyone else that has had influence in your life. The truth is we allow the influence of others to shape our lives and dreams. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be… especially if it creates a life that you never wanted.

Take some time today and think about that. I was amazed at what I found.

Do you need help making an idea sound more complex and thought-out than it actually is? Want to capitalize on the whole Green Movement thing? If you answered yes to either question, then here’s all you have to do – Just add the word “sustainable” to whatever you’re working on. For example, you know that marketing plan you’ve been working on that seems so boring? Instead of calling it “Marketing Plan,” try calling it “Sustainable Marketing Plan.” Or how about that business operations strategy? Call it “Sustainable Operations Strategy” and watch the heads nod in approval.

If that sounds contrived and disingenuous, that’s because it is. Yet it’s exactly what companies and people are doing everyday in order to appear more socially aware and environmentally conscious. The term “sustainability” has been so over-used that it’s lost much of its meaning and true value. People throw the term around similar to that of “love” – I love coffee, I love my wife, I love bubble gum, I love my daughter, I love the beach. Sooner or later it becomes so overused that it’s synonymous with multiple terms/ideas, and we forget what it was original intended to describe. That’s why I think it’s time to go back to the basics.

Sustainability is not a term that simply describes a single action like our recycling efforts and/or turning off the lights when we leave a room (Although, that may be part of it). Sustainability is a much deeper concept than just modifying behavior. It requires us to become visionaries and consider today, as well as tomorrow. “Sustainable” means doing something  – Work, play, life – in a way that allows us to get our needs fulfilled today without compromising the needs of the future generations. In other words, it’s living a life that considers the lives to come.

What does it mean to “consider the lives to come?” It means looking at our lifestyle and measuring the full impact of our decisions. An example of this would be finding out what process, procedure, and labor conditions you’re “buying” into when you purchase a t-shirt from company “X” or food from farm “y.” It’s important to remember that we vote with our dollar. Every time we purchase an item we are essentially voting for that item, and the methods involved in its creation, to stay in production.  Sometimes those methods are so thoughtless that they destroying the quality of life for us, as well as our children and grandchildren. Therefore, take the time to learn about the products you’re buying because how and what we consume plays a large roll in living a sustainable life. If you would like to read more about how sustainability and consumption are interconnected click here.

If living a more sustainable life sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is… at first. It’s takes time, effort, and intentionality in order to reprogram how we think and consume. However, after a short time, I promise you that you’ll find satisfaction in the realization that you can make the world a better place one decision at a time. Don’t worry about being perfect. Just try and do what you can with what you have.