Earth Day: Why Making a Difference is Good for Us (with 7 Tips to Make it Easy!)

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Where do we find the resilience and strength to deal with all the terrible stuff that’s going on in the world? How do we stay engaged and not switch off?

The answer is within. That strength is already within you, we just need to locate—and importantly connect to it…

Let’s get personal

Each of us has personal values we can connect to, take support from and build on.

These come from our own experiences and stories (our history) that leads us to feel strongly about one thing, and not another. Essentially, our past successes, hurts and disappointments lead us to form a view of what is right—and wrong—in the world.

And even as adults, there’s still a lot happening in our world that’s upsetting. And all too often we think we are powerless to make a difference. But this is simply untrue. What you do is important. You matter. And you can and do make a difference.

If you think you’re too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. Anita Roddick

So at Fierce Kindness, part of our philosophy is that we choose to do something about what we think is wrong in the world and take action—however small.

And this is what helps us reclaim our personal power.

Because what’s happening in the world impacts how we feel

It’s hard to be content or happy when we see our environment and so many people suffering, whether it’s in the Ukraine, the Amazon, Afghanistan or Ethopia. We look around and see our local community, environment and the natural world declining due to human encroachment and corporate greed.

And we can all see a greater than ever divisiveness and unfairness among our fellow humans—whether it’s class and income divides, race, gender, whom we love, our faith or who is vaccinated against COVID and who is not…

This is where Fierce Kindness is different

What makes Fierce Kindness really different from other personal development practices is our focus on the “big picture”. This is because:

The state of the world affects our well-being (how can it not?)

Feeling powerless or helpless to change things is unpleasant.
It can make us feel angry, guilty, sad, depressed and lead to us losing hope and giving up…

So, instead at Fierce Kindness:

We believe that to be truly happy, we need to live a life of meaning.

A life of meaning isn’t about finding the perfect career, starting a charity or giving everything up to help others.
We simply need to consciously* do something (that’s meaningful to us!) to make our world a better place.
Crucially, this something doesn’t need to be big, time-consuming or expensive…
The important thing is just to start. To do something. Anything.
And small is good here! Because over time, our contribution and actions usually grow. We learn more. Things become a habit. We find a deep connection with what matters and want to do more.

* Doing something consciously means you make a connection between what you do and the kind of world you want to live in. Because we find meaning and purpose in life when we become part of the change we wish to see.

This is how we create a better world…

So as we contribute to the world we want to see, these actions become a habit—or a regular part of our life. Then it’s easy to add something else on. We begin to think bigger.

We feel happier because we are doing something about the things that bother us. We enjoy life more. And we also role model a new way of being for—and inspire—others.

Then gradually, as more and more people feel happier and do something, then do more, we create the possibility of a shift in how our world works…

7 Essential Tips to Truly Enjoy Taking Action!

Get personal: To find meaning we must make it personal. Think about what bothers YOU most in the world. What ideas do you already have? Notice which ideas GRAB you or seem most important.
Take it easy: Choose something EASY to do. As small as you need to. Done is better than perfect. Something is better than nothing. Just get started!
Lose the Guilt. There are always going to be more things you could do and more ideas than it is physically possible to do. That’s why we say NO GUILT. Do what you CAN. EASILY. Then go/grow from there.
No pressure! When you forget to do something, or get it wrong, just notice and try again in future. NO PRESSURE.
Forgive yourself: It’s likely that as you learn and do, you’ll find out you’ve made mistakes and done things that negatively impact others and ther planet. But we are all learning. We are all IMPERFECT. Everyone has an impact on the planet—and each other. We are just trying to minimise the negative and maximise the positive!
You are kind and brave: Doing something—anything—in this busy, distracted world takes courage, kindness and effort. So give yourself credit for taking action.
It’s not your responsibility to fix our society or the planet! Simply become part of the solution. REMEMBER that the burden of change does not—and should not—fall SOLELY on us as individuals while governments, large corporations and the super-rich take advantage of the planet—and our fellow humans.

Wrap-up

My own personal experiences have led me to value community and friendship, kindness, beauty, courage—and empowerment/agency/taking action. I’m guessing you can see where Fierce Kindness comes from…

And in the next few articles (a series for Earth Day) we’re going to offer several ideas for things you can do for the planet, and ways you can begin to make a difference.

And Your Earth Day Graphics are here:

Earth Day Quotes Affirmations on Gradient Background

Click to get these “Mystical” Earth Day Quote Graphics