Mother earth backlash

It's been a while since I got in touch with environmental issues. For starters, I think we as humans and as living creatures who have been granted the gift of the mind should not neglect the fact that even though we are are constantly introducing new technologies to improve our lives, we have taken our earth for granted.

When was the last time any of us sat down to just ask ourselves, "will the world be a better place for my future generations?". The picture below is probably the most commonly used photo of our earth from space.

I don't know about you, but I think the earth is one of the unexplained wonders of this universe. Who would have thought a big rock sphere could sustain lives of so many living beings from the very minute form of microbes to sea creatures, land creatures and we humans? Did you know that the very blue planet in the picture sustains approximately the lives of close to 9 billion people?

At this juncture, our planet earth is suffering from global warming - a problem of which close to none of us care about or even think about in our daily lives. We get on with our lives, our daily routines and just live as if everything's okay. But the sad truth is, everything's not okay and very , very far from okay. Take a look at the graph below that illustrates how much the anomaly in temperature has drastically become over the years from 1880 to 2000, and believe you me at 2008, it has only gone higher - possibly bringing to light the term "off the charts". The source of the graph - NASA, for those who want to do some further reading.

No doubt, the trend of highs and lows in the temperature are still visible but the anomaly has clearly been going up and up. How much further are we going to ignore this clear warning from our mother earth? Countries worldwide are already in the Kyoto agreement leaving only the USA and Australia, which have not signed up yet, but we have to realise controlling the emission of CO2 is not merely a political act and there is only so much governments can do. It is up to us to make the change if we want a better tomorrow for our children.

To date, we have witnessed some drastic changes in the weather - increased in number hurricanes especially in the USA and Japan, unpredictable tsunamis, increase in seismic activities. I leave in Malaysia, and I can sure tell you the rains today and the rains I used to experience when I was kid are so different. Wind speeds have picked up ever since the mountains were mowed down to make room for development, temperatures 10 years ago in Kuala Lumpur used to be a comfortable 27C in the afternoon, now afternoon temperatures average between 33C to sometimes even 37C. Isn't that a clear enough sign?

Virtually all of us are stuck in this paradigm, ignoring the grave truth of global warming. If we want a better tomorrow, we have to start today; in fact we should have started yesterday or even the day before yesterday. One of us making a change isn't enough, but if all us can start spreading the word and changing our lifestyles to a more sustainable approach, I believe we can assist in bringing a more sustainable earth and future. Remember - 9 billion of us on earth can really make a change.

Further understanding: watch "The Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore, visit The Green Guide, Reuters Environment Blog

All it takes is a little encouragement

"A Life at Work" by Thomas Moore is currently the book I am reading. I have reached about half way so far and it has really given me a lot of in sight about my destiny or at least pointers to get me on my way to figure out what my life work is (i.e. your ideal work, work that fulfills you from the inside, food-for-the-soul kind of work). It's still a work in progress thing for me; a long way from reaching the full discovery point (if I ever reach it). Your life work can be as simple as helping old folks in need in a nursing home to something as simple as being a life guard. Simplest of work can be the most rewarding to a person's hear that's deep down. Of course, there's no denying that it is different for everyone. But sometimes, if not all the time, all it takes is a little encouragement from the people around you. Sometimes it is as simple as, "a job well done chump!" or "way to go bud!" or "you hit the home run mate!" or even

one foot in the past, another in the future........ what about the present?

All of us go through a cycle, what we commonly call - the past, present and the future. It can probably be summed up by this simple phrase: " we come from the past to be in the present and look forward to the future ". Now, what I want you to do is take a step back, or just give your mind a minute or two to digest the above mentioned phrase. Ask yourself if it applies to you. Really ask yourself; and I mean REALLY ask yourself in the most honest of manner, whether it really applies to you. You may find it difficult to arrive at a 'yes' and even if you do, you probably find yourself in a paralysis state of mind trying to justify the 'yes'. If you really ponder about it, you are likely to find that most of us would find this phrase more relevant instead: " we come from the past and look forward to the future " You will find many of us either hang on to the past or look far too forward into the future, or likely for some to even be dwelling too much in

Quick update.........

Having graduated last year in August and taking a break in Australia visiting my brother for a month, I really felt good about everything. Things just got better after that, having landed a job at Ernst & Young! :) Aaaaaahhhhh.... how fast time actually goes by! Passing the 10th of January 2007, I have already been working for 3 months. The feeling of getting older and learning new things everyday at work brings about a feeling of satisfication. Although, work is generally tough and tedious (what do you expect in the auditing line?). I must admit though, when I fast started off I did feel demotivated and some what unhappy with the job having to go back home at 3am and back to work by 8am the next day. I did think about quitting at that time........ :( However, a miracle happened to me! That miracle brought along a girl named Vern Cheng. Without her support, I would have struggled a lot more. After work, just seeing her brings about a feeling of happiness and a feeling of being cont

karenApril 27, 2008 at 5:22 PM
It is the awakening of the individual, one person at a time, that will make the difference in this struggle. More and more each day there are signs that "the great turning," as Joanna Macy calls it, are beginning to occur. It will truly have to be a grassroots effort. Great post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

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