By now you have heard and seen the devastation wreaked on Japan by the tsunami. I could hardly believe the footage I was witnessing on the news. It all just seems so apocalyptic to me, especially since words like tsunami were absent from my vocabulary until just a few years ago. I know there has been great storms of devastation before, but everything seems mild in comparison to what's been going on lately. I can rarely recall a time I've ever sat back and been truly scared by something going on in the news. The exception might be 911, and strangely, even that did not evoke the feelings of helplessness I've had recently. It's that overwhelming sense of doom. Like something has shifted or we've turned a corner in terms of our own destiny or future as a species. I first felt the punch in the gut when the BP oil spill happened. Witnessing 2.5 million gallons of oil pouring into the middle of the ocean for MONTHS just seemed unbelievable to me. The sluggish response to contain it, the absolutely unforgivable harm to wildlife and the environment, and the blasé response by us as a people was simply the markings of a disaster you would hear about in the telling of the end of the world.
The mortgage crash, recession, and unemployment that has hit our world economy also feels uniquely different than financial crises of the past. Perhaps because the impact is so global, or because never has it been more obvious that this disaster was carried out intentionally for selfish gain at the expense of others. Finally, the tsunami has left one of the best prepared countries in the world looking like nothing more than a giant pool of man made waste. My heart goes out to those people, but at the same time I am scared at the implications of what a disaster this size means for all of us. Hearing about nuclear meltdowns and devastating environmental impact makes me feel like the threats of 2012 might be more than just a Mayan legend.
I had a terrible week. You might say I had a wave of destruction that kept me from achieving my own personal victories. I will not bore you with the details as it is disrespectful to blabber on while there are those who are picking up the pieces from an actual tsunami, but I will say that it involved personal financial distress, family discord, and someone I care a great deal for being left homeless as a result of this ongoing sh*tty economy. I'm sure I will reveal more in upcoming posts, but for now let's just say I had some definite strife concerning everything from my meds to my future. All of these factors compounded to leave me with no good reportable news concerning my weight loss efforts.
I certainly wish that all this discord was more manageable by me and that the affects didn't send seismic shock waves not unlike the tsunami to my diet and exercise habits. But it does. A friend and I had a slightly heated discussion about politics and what's going on in the world around us. She very wisely stated, "I try to only focus on things I can control." Hmmm...sound advice. Yet I can not seem to do that. I am too connected to animals, nature, people, life, and the wrongs going on around me to be able to distance myself in that way. I try, but with no success. Quite frankly, it is inhumane not to be connected to these things emotionally. That's what's wrong with the world! There's too many people only concerning themselves with what affects them or what is in their backyard. Hence, why America is often accused of operating as an island. Perhaps if more of us took issue with the problems of the world, and not just the problems of OUR world, we'd all be living a happier existence. Still, I will take my friend's advice in the hopes that I can lasso my own troubles and free myself from the world of problems around me. The day I stop missing a week of blogging at a time, you will know I have done this ;-)
"The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything." -Albert Einstein
The mortgage crash, recession, and unemployment that has hit our world economy also feels uniquely different than financial crises of the past. Perhaps because the impact is so global, or because never has it been more obvious that this disaster was carried out intentionally for selfish gain at the expense of others. Finally, the tsunami has left one of the best prepared countries in the world looking like nothing more than a giant pool of man made waste. My heart goes out to those people, but at the same time I am scared at the implications of what a disaster this size means for all of us. Hearing about nuclear meltdowns and devastating environmental impact makes me feel like the threats of 2012 might be more than just a Mayan legend.
I had a terrible week. You might say I had a wave of destruction that kept me from achieving my own personal victories. I will not bore you with the details as it is disrespectful to blabber on while there are those who are picking up the pieces from an actual tsunami, but I will say that it involved personal financial distress, family discord, and someone I care a great deal for being left homeless as a result of this ongoing sh*tty economy. I'm sure I will reveal more in upcoming posts, but for now let's just say I had some definite strife concerning everything from my meds to my future. All of these factors compounded to leave me with no good reportable news concerning my weight loss efforts.
I certainly wish that all this discord was more manageable by me and that the affects didn't send seismic shock waves not unlike the tsunami to my diet and exercise habits. But it does. A friend and I had a slightly heated discussion about politics and what's going on in the world around us. She very wisely stated, "I try to only focus on things I can control." Hmmm...sound advice. Yet I can not seem to do that. I am too connected to animals, nature, people, life, and the wrongs going on around me to be able to distance myself in that way. I try, but with no success. Quite frankly, it is inhumane not to be connected to these things emotionally. That's what's wrong with the world! There's too many people only concerning themselves with what affects them or what is in their backyard. Hence, why America is often accused of operating as an island. Perhaps if more of us took issue with the problems of the world, and not just the problems of OUR world, we'd all be living a happier existence. Still, I will take my friend's advice in the hopes that I can lasso my own troubles and free myself from the world of problems around me. The day I stop missing a week of blogging at a time, you will know I have done this ;-)
"The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything." -Albert Einstein
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