The Current Scenario
Everything regarding our changing lifestyle over the past few decades, our wants are growing endlessly in this modern age of technology and gadgets. This change and whatever we are doing in the name of growth and advancement right now is doing great damage to the world around us. On one side more than one-third of the human population is living under extreme poverty.
Half the people in developing countries are living on a meager income fighting for survival, on the other side the natural world is collapsing, denuded slowly through deforestation with millions of species facing habitat loss with wildlife being endangered like never before. Looking at all this it is very clear to us that most of the life on the planet is suffering in some way or the other. Well I say that is exactly what we have achieved in the name of progress and development.
Questions what we need to ask ourselves
A few questions that arise in my mind often are what is our aim as a species, What are we moving towards, Is it possible in any way for the human community to have a common goal and work towards it.?, beyond advanced changing lifestyle but still the way we live is only making things worse for us? , Which leader is going to take responsibility for all the chaos and destruction happening in this world?.
Is the world only for people with money as a priority in life, why is our focus so much towards making money? Are we here only to build great economies and failed to see the reality of things? Is making money the greatest achievement for people in their lives? well if all this is true then there’s not a better future waiting for us surely.
What’s wrong? : Our current lifestyle
Our changing lifestyle is creating so many solutions for us now but creating more complex problems for the upcoming generations. People are always on the lookout for a little more comfort in their lives. We all have access to good education, good water, good food and so we never really care about anything which bothers our lives, Our lifestyle has become so self-centered that all we want to do is to live our lives comfortably and stay happy taking care only of ourselves.
so we think money is the solution and keep chasing it all our lives without realizing nature is the key to our survival. It is the fuel that is keeping us alive and we are just a part of the bigger picture.
The real problem
At times when we are made to feel that our lifestyle is not right we create new solutions for the problems rather than getting to the root cause of the problems. What’s worse is that we are not realizing that slowly we are losing our connection with nature that is the basis to our survival and are ready to pay a price for even such basic things we as living beings are given to live. But how far can we carry on? can we live happily and healthily without things like clean air, clean water, natural foods, and keep calling this changing lifestyle modern and healthy ?
The bad effects
Our changing lifestyle is not only declining our physical health but even our mental health is affected so much that every day we are putting up with so much stress, depression, and anxiety in our minds which will have a permanent effect on our health in the later stages of our lives. In my point of view, the root cause of all these is that we keep looking for more, we look up to the people who are more sophisticated than us and we never find happiness with what we have. We are seldom satisfied and never say enough .
we are never content with life just the way it is. Our wants have become almost insatiable that we keep needing more and more so much so that we have totally lost the meaning of life somewhere on the way.
The real change
We have started to confound ourselves in search of something that we can fake our happiness with and made our lives a very artificial and synthetic one. What is the use of our education if we can’t understand this simple thing. The impact that we are creating on our surroundings and how it’s affecting us back in different ways. Don’t you think the real changing lifestyle are not the ones we are making now but will be more towards finding smarter ways to live simply?
We need to have a more minimalistic approach to our lifestyle which clearly defines a boundary between needs and wants and does not allow the mirage of wants hindsight us. Thinking through it we can see that we were the ones who allowed big corporates to become so big, we were the stimulants to their desires. The habit that we have been created in us by them so that we buy all the unwanted, unnatural, and unhealthy stuff. But still there is hope for us if we can change, here’s how.
Looking at the past
We all know every country has it’s own unique history, culture, and tradition of its own from that they had a certain lifestyle that each of them respected and adhered to very strictly. I think the solution lies in bringing then back again. Everything our forefathers did had a reason to it But now everything has changed and we are doing a great mistake by forgetting the past and we are under a strong influence of a western culture which in fact has no deep cultural roots by itself and has no particular history of a balanced lifestyle.
The old ways
In the past it is said that people used to make use of whatever that was available locally and use it for their survival. Since the time of hunters and gatherers we were always accustomed to living that way. They lived a great life just being satisfied by eating food that grows locally, wearing dresses that suit their climate and money never bothered them during those times. The bond they created as communities was so strong and supportive that they were able to help, support, and sustain each other by caring and sharing their life with everyone.
The Solution towards a simple lifestyle
Our ancestors had completely decoded the essence of living a simple lifestyle identifying themselves as a part of the natural world. That is what we need to bring back again and start following the healthy practices that were once in place. For example, we have already seen how yoga and meditation that originated in our culture has made such a positive influence on this world. I’m sure if we go back to our roots we will find so many amazing and interesting things about life and can start living more healthily and happily.
The minimalistic approach
We need to make changes in our lives to minimize the stuff yet getting exactly the things that we need. Minimalism teaches us how to keep life simple yet beautiful. We can make our homes and our lives beautiful by following this approach where we will only have everything we need and we are not attracted to all the colorful and unnecessary things of the world that keep us on the run. We can be happy, content, and relaxed by being creative and keeping things simple in our lives.
What is real growth?
Everyone must understand that each country can be great in its way and we don’t need to be fighting with each other for becoming great economies and developed countries. We can become a wonderful world with wonderful people by being proud of our history and way of living. Thus it is our responsibility as educated people to promote and be proud of our local cultures and practices and it’s the only way we can live in peace and harmony with each other.
What is real globalization?
I think we have come to a point in time where there is every possibility to connect as a whole species, as a global community that finds similarities in everything and looks beyond differences and celebrates every difference and uniqueness in diversity all over the world without changing the things which made us survive the test of time.
The sustainable approach
Creating a more sustainable approach depends upon bringing this change and purpose to live a more happy life wherever we are in the world. Therefore it is our responsibility to take care of the planet being the more intelligent species and make sure we restore every damage we have done to this planet so far in the name of modern lifestyle. It is certainly possible for us to find smarter ways to live where we can intertwine with nature again and heal the earth in the process.
Complementing nature’s efforts
Let’s not turn countries into deserts construct economies rather let’s try and preserve what nature has already been providing us to live by keeping the environment intact and pristine. Whatever damage we are doing today to nature, nature still strives to create a balance in the world again so that life can flourish but right now what we are doing with everything in our power is damaging that damaging even that effort.
Importance of environmental conservation
In my opinion, Environmental conservation must become our main economic goal in the world regardless of the country. Only by creating wise conservation policies Which maybe sometimes expensive but are in dire need to be implemented over some immediate economic gains in the name of development can we hope for a better future.
Bhutan: one best example
Bhutan is one of the very few countries in the world leading as a great example and has consistently shown the world how to live with nature at its core. Their lifestyle and what they have been doing over a period of time to conserve and protect the natural beauty of their country have just obtained amazing results for them as a country. They follow things like the gross national happiness index, an engaged leadership, and a constitution that protects conservation as a core value.
If only other countries can get the same kind of inspiration to follow the same and make changes similar to them the results would be nothing but amazing to live on our planet. For that to happen people must start realizing why nature is so important for our survival and change our lifestyle according to it.
Being human: Today’s decision, tomorrow’s fate
Humans having such great intellect, ironically stoop as low as determining their dominance upon nature’s laws. Survival fuels every entity made by nature yet we are the defiants who let other forces drive us. Every being in this world is working for ecological well-being except us humans. Right now for us to be humans only means the need to be superior, establish authority, and let people be aware of it.
I think we don’t have to do that anymore. So, Let’s just not pray and hope for a better future let’s be the change, let’s start acting in every small way possible and create a better world for the generations that are to come and live an amazing life on this amazing planet.
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