Crisis.

Typhoons sweeping South-East Asia... 

On the heels of Typhoon Morakot, which did so much damage in Taiwan, China and Japan... last week's Typhoon Ketsana brought the worst flooding in living memory to Philippines, where hundreds of casualties are reported, roads unusable, landslides and water covering whole settlements, and to top it off a huge oil spill from a paper-making factory is hampering rescue efforts in Manila.

Natural disasters are increasing the world over.

Remember the tsunami in 2005?  So many people did what they could by donating time or resources.  If you want to help in today's world, which problem are you going to tackle first?

We are running out of resources...

While the super-powers secretly haggle people's lives for oil = economic control = world domination, our home the Earth is losing animal species, huge tracts of forest, clean water and is getting a whole lot of pollution in return.

People are stressed, depressed and some turning psychotic

Witness last decade's rise of suicide rate, suicide bombers, high school shootings.  Physical health isn't much better, with new diseases, epidemics, deaths caused by prescribed drugs, diabetes and cancers running rampant, allergies sky-rocketing from toxins in the environment.

Economic Emergency

Most governments are panicking about all the financial equations no longer adding up... People are losing jobs, can't pay for their homes, banks are filing for bankruptcies...

WOW.  I think we are in trouble.

Of course this isn't news!  I've been hearing about conserving water, shady conspiracies and the pressing need to relax and eat more naturally for years.  We all have.

But are we paying attention?  Are we changing our habits?  Some of us can't bother to recycle, but I have to tell you - recycling is no longer enough!

WHAT TO DO?

First, seek out some information on what's happening and more importantly, why.  These are sources I've found extremely eye-opening and motivating:

THE STORY OF STUFF - a 20-minute entertaining, scary and very important film about how we got into this mess and how bad it really is.  PLEASE take the time to watch it.  You can even find it in other languages such as Russian and Arabic.  If it's playing in a patchy way from the website, you can try downloading it or watch it on Google Videos.  Please pass it on!

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH - a movie project by Al Gore highlighting climate change.

DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION - I so incredibly admire this Canadian forefront environmentalists, whose views and work aren't popular with major corporations because he doesn't sugarcoat the truth about what those corporations are destroying.

Second, don't get disheartened or feel like there is nothing you can do.  In fact, there are many vital things that you can and MUST do because this global crisis will not just be the problem of future generations - you have a choice now about the coming years of your lifetime. The most important and also fairly easy habits to observe:

1. CONSERVE RESOURCES. Water. Electricity. Food. Gas.
2. MAKE LESS TRASH. Buy less stuff. Reuse bags, containers, clothes.
3. THINK SUSTAINABLE. Recycle. Make less pollution. Tell others.

Third, invoke some higher powers 'coz heck, we certainly can't do this alone!  This can mean very different things to different people.  It may be:

* Reciting Mantras. Praying to whomever you feel connected to - a God or Goddess, the God of your religion, nature, angels, your ancestors... they can all help. If you'd like to learn a Tibetan Buddhist mantra for the Bodhisattva of Compassion, I'd be very happy to share it with you directly. 

* Think positively, find joy, be responsible for your own emotions as a direct contribution to the world all around you!

Do something today.  

Do it everyday.  

Change the world.