This past week, I spent 2-3 days in the Maine (U.S.A) by the seaside to get in touch with nature and disconnect a bit.
Every time I go in the U. S., I’m amazed at the abundance of resources present in this country.
However, while a part of me is amazed and impressed at the sight of it, another part of me is…
Concerned?
Disappointed?
Bothered?
To make it clear before I go on, I’m not bashing against the U.S. in any way here. I think there are many things they’ve figured out way better than we did here in Canada (and truth be told, I would likely immigrate to the US if I could do it easily…)
Now that this is said, let’s go back to the main topic…
I feel concerned because abundance can be a blessing or a disease. And what dictates if it’s the former or the latter depends on what we do with it.
Abundance is a blessing when it’s used in a sustainable way. But abundance is a curse when it’s used only for the short term, within open-ended loops.
What will dictate if it’s the former or the latter is how responsible and conscious humans are when having access to this amount of abundance.
And that’s the part where I’m the most concerned about because while we’re very good at innovating and building things, we’re still very narrow-sighted and still too focused on the short term.
So, here’s a simple breakdown of something you can do today to make more sustainable decisions:
When it comes to behaviour, whether you can see it or not, there is ALWAYS an underlying function.
Everything is “functional”, and everything has a purpose.
There is no such thing as something being “dysfunctional” and not serving a purpose.
But...
While every behaviour may have a purpose, not every behaviour is equally SUSTAINABLE.
Differently said, while every behaviour is oriented around solving a problem or accomplishing a task… Not every behaviour will last through time equally.
So, when consuming something or behaving in a way, perhaps it’s a good idea to ask ourselves:
- “What function is this accomplishing?
- How long will I be able to maintain that behaviour?
- Is there any other way I can get the same/similar outcome, but with less resource and for longer?
If you constantly ask yourself these 3 questions with everything you do, you’ll find yourself in uncomfortable situations more often at the beginning… But things are more likely to become more comfortable through time.
If, however, you never bother asking yourself these questions, you might be very comfortable now… but life might get harder as time passes.
So, with that said, you can’t avoid discomfort; You can only choose the “when” and the “how” you’ll experience discomfort.
In the end, the choice is yours, but make sure your actions are congruent with the outcomes you want.
For those this might interest, here’s another article I wrote on the topic