Thinking can actual change something!
Cognitive Behavior Therapy is usually applied to mental health issues. It stems from the idea that thoughts, emotions, and actions are intertwined and that your thoughts can help to change negative feelings and behaviors. Here, I’m suggesting we can change a few actions and thereby change the world; well, maybe a small part of it. This application has everything to do with our own health and the health of our planet, rather than mental health.
Why is this important? Because the current (at that time Trump) administration of the United States government has chosen to not only ignore the top three destructive issues we all face today, but to make at least two of them even worse and play around with the third one. Those three issues are: climate change, pollution, and nuclear war. The vast majority of scientists have acknowledged the danger of climate change. When examined, those that “deny” it work for or have been paid by corporations whose profits may be impacted by controls on fossil fuel use, a major contributor, and other economic issues. There is simply no arguing about whether or not climate change is a fact. The physical evidence is overwhelming.
So where does cognitive behavior come into it? How about taking 15 minutes to 1 hour one day a week for a couple of weeks thinking specifically about every action you take and how that might impact climate change and its fellow horror, pollution. You’ve probably seen lots of posters, social media comments, newspaper and magazine articles, Earth Day reminders, etc., giving you ideas abut how to conserve energy, water, doing a few small actions that help the environment in some way. I won’t repeat them here; they’re easy to find on the Internet. All I’m suggesting is that you think (cognition) about how your actions might impact climate change and pollution (we’ll leave nuclear war out of it for the moment!) and that, hopefully, will lead you to make some changes in your behavior. Granted, each of us individually won’t seem to make much difference, although many such actions will save you, specifically, money. Individual actions add up!
Here’s just one example: When you grab your phone in the morning to go out, do you leave the charger plugged in? What about other electronic gadget chargers, are they still plugged in when the item is fully charged or when not charging at all? Just question yourself quickly; it won’t take more than a couple of seconds every time you do something.
This ON
OR
This OFF
“With our thoughts we make the world,” Buddha
“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll have positive results.” Willie Nelson
“Action expresses priorities.” Mahatma Gandhi
Another Damage Control Action: VOTE, more on that in another post.
One of my favorite quotes from reviews of my book, Voice of a Voyage: Rediscovering the World During a Ten-year Circumnavigation, included this last line, “. . . best of all it makes one think.” You can read the entire review and others on Amazon or Goodreads for Voice of a Voyage.