Change What You Can

The new year is a great time for beating the crap out of yourself. Lamenting everything you haven’t done, comparing yourself to everyone who seems to be doing better, and then not doing the things you resolved to do because you’ve already thrown in the towel, saying, what difference will it make?

I’ve never been known for my wisdom in knowing the difference between things I can change and things I can’t. Much like my mom, I’m optimistic to a fault. I stubbornly think I CAN be a change agent.“ Serenity has never been my strong point. I’ve read the Serenity Prayer, and I really like it, but do I follow it? Nope. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” If only I would listen!

So, I’m continuing to tackle the small things and am making a list for you and me of things we CAN do that could make a difference in our world. They’re not big things, they’re little things, but since everything is connected, maybe this is a starting place. I love the idea of the butterfly effect – that something tiny can affect great change.

• Be grateful. You can’t have a bad day if you wake up grateful for everything you have, even if you’re not where you want to be yet.
• Don’t waste food. It’s one thing we can all do that can make a difference. I’ve been working on this one for years. If you shop at Costco like I do, then cook your food when you get it and freeze what you don’t use right away for later. I buy their big package of mushrooms, saute them, then freeze them and use them when I need them. If you have too much food, donate some to a food pantry. According to the World Wildlife Federation website:  “In the US alone, the production of lost or wasted food generates the equivalent of 32.6 million cars’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions. As the world’s population continues to grow, our challenge should not be how to grow more food, but to feed more people while wasting less of what we already produce.”
• Recycle. Even if your garbage company doesn’t accept plastic recycling, do some research and find a place that does. Where I live, they don’t take glass bottles, but there is a facility not far away where I can dump my glass and it’s recycled. I also found a place much further away that will take the clamshell containers that my garbage/recyclers don’t take. It’s a trek, but if it makes a difference, I’m willing to make it. They take plastic bags at many grocery stores and I know Target and Home Depot do too, so don’t toss them, recycle them. Do it for your kids and grandkids.
• Please, don’t use plastic plates or utensils. A plastic fork spoon or knife takes about 1,000 years to decompose and leaves toxins when it does. Here’s what the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering says about plastics: “The United States generates millions of tons of plastic waste every year. That waste is worth potentially billions of dollars, but the majority of plastic just winds up in landfills, where it produces significant greenhouse gas emissions and not much else.” Doing dishes can bring people together where they begin great conversations and doesn’t take that long. We have one planet, let’s please take care of it.
• Eat less meat. It’s a lot easier than you think. My new hummus addiction is much better for me than kielbasa or steak.
• Donate to causes you believe in. But check them out first. There are sadly, lots of unscrupulous people out there who will lie to you just to get your money. Don’t let them win.
• Watch things that make you feel better, not worse. I completely enjoyed this November because I had Ted Lasso ‘s positivity to get me through. It’s not only funny, it’s well acted and directed and shows how one person who is positive can help change the behavior of others for the better. (Yeah, I know it’s a fictional story, but in the immortal words of Cecelia from the movie, Purple Rose of Cairo: Cecilia: “I just met a wonderful new man. He’s fictional but you can’t have everything.“) I’ll take inspiring fiction over depressing reality any day. If you have a choice between something apocalyptic or something that leaves you inspired, choose inspiration. Here are just a few movies where good does eventually triumph that I’ve enjoyed in the past year. (And pardon me for the overabundance of 1940s World War II or British movies, but I can’t help it, my dad fought in WWII and I am a sucker for any accent from Great Britain, especially Colin Firth’s)

Movies: Operation Mincemeat, It Ends With Us, Carry On, Saving Private Ryan, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Six Triple Eight, Widow Clicquot, The Adjustment Bureau, On the Basis of Sex, The Judge, Apollo 13, Fly Me to the Moon, In the Heart of the Sea, My Old Ass.

It’s just a list of a few, but they leave you feeling hopeful and with the beginning of a new year, doesn’t everyone need a little hope?

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