It's Never Too Late ... for some things

Quite a few of them, actually!

Jul 10, 2024

I have a very strong suspicion that there are some things it's too late to do much or anything about here on our beautiful Planet Earth. Too late to fix! (I’d be delighted to be wrong about this btw.) No need to go into that now - bear in mind I did do environmental work (& writing) for three decades, learned a lot about many different aspects of the environmental crisis, & truthfully, never really saw much indication that the majority of human beings wanted to know much about it ... let alone do anything about it. (Actually, I think you could argue that the state of the planet's air, water bodies & earth itself is the most amazingly huge & invisible elephant in the room ever! I also now think it's possible it was always too late - in my lifetime anyway - to do much about it all. Whatever! T'is what it is.)

And so, here we are now, in these crazy, crazy times

& we have to keep on keeping on ... right?

I decided to make a list of things it's NOT too late for. The idea came into my mind as I did something it's still not too late for me to do 🙂 - sit in the backyard of my apartment building in the morning with a cup of coffee, soaking up some sun, & start musing on a list of things it's not too late - for any of us - to do.

Here goes!

Slow down
Enjoy the sound of the birds (cardinal song is my favourite! I love to hear owls hoot at night, too, but sadly there isn't any of that action in my city neighbourhood)
Drop some old habits & develop new ones (putting people on pedestals & trusting authorities are two I've been learning to drop)
Change our minds about something, or someone
Stay curious & keep on learning new things (admittedly, some of them may break your heart)
"Be curious, not judgmental." - Walt Whitman
Stay open.

When asked “What is your biggest piece of life advice for us?” in this interview, Yo Yo Ma replied: “Stay open. I think when people are afraid, we close up, we close ranks, we go into a shell, we become intolerant. Because we're trying to be self-protective. Having friends, trusting people, collaborating, and being empathetic can lead to ... the scaffolding to get to hope. For me, being open and being generous is huge. It actually can lead to happiness, oddly enough. Happiness, I think, is a by-product of – I didn't say it, Freud said it – work and love … Hey, you suddenly realize, I'm happy.”

Also, though, be appropriately skeptical. Do some research! This may wind up resulting in some changes of opinion.
Listen to your guts - they often give us good advice! If something seems to be too good to be true - or like the most supreme B.S. - it very likely is!
Cultivate the ability to be flexible. To change plans in mid-stream when necessary. Life is gonna send us curve balls! Best to learn to handle things without freaking out over every little thing that doesn’t go our way.
Learn to connect the dots better
Become more detached

Less angry
Say thank you & I love you often
Forgive people
Speak kindly to people
“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” – Mother Teresa
Be friendly to strangers (city life has its downsides, but offers us many opportunities in this regard!)
Be a good friend
Make a new friend!
Offer practical help rather than advice
Give more well-deserved compliments
Always keep growing & healing!
“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely.” – Karen Kaiser Clark
Worry less

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow. It only saps today of its joy.” – seen on a church sign board

Consider listening to old Alan Watts lectures. There are tons of them! I love his voice, & his insights. He was a very wise, insightful man. Far from “perfect” - he was the first to admit that! Here's a good one. Eckhart Tolle is mighty helpful too. Both these men are very wise about the importance of learning to live in the present.

Read good books (I'm reading Annie Proulx's short stories about Wyoming these daze. Whoa. Her way with words is breath-taking!)
Listen to good music (& sing!!)

Have fun sometimes! For me this has become more challenging than it was in the pre-Covid era. We need to laugh & not always take life - or ourselves - so seriously. (Note to self, note to self!?) Or, as a magnet on my fridge advises, “Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first!”

“Mingle a little folly with your wisdom; a little nonsense now and then is pleasant.” – Horace (65 – 8 B.C.) Roman poet and satirist

Don’t rush important decisions. We can make big mistakes when we act too impulsively.

“Do you have the patience to wait ‘til your mud settles and the water is clear? Can you remain unmoving ‘til the right action arises by itself?” – Lao-tzu
“Be careful not to do something permanently stupid because you are temporarily angry, stressed, scared, tired or hungry.” – Karen Salmansohn

Practice gratitude - actively - on a regular basis. I am not exaggerating at all in saying that taking up this habit can transform your life! This posting provides a how-to on it.
Get better at letting shit go
Learn to scroll by an awful lot on social media & not feel obliged to engage with the irritating stuff you don't agree with

Agree to disagree with people on topics you don't see eye-to-eye on
“Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.” – Rumi
Get better at learning when to speak & when to just be quiet & keep our thoughts to ourselves
Be a good listener
Get better at surrendering to the things I/we/you cannot change
Go for a walk! Walking is kind of magically wonderful!! Great for both body & soul.
“Walking is a man's best medicine.” – Hippocrates
Learning to Walk
** more quotations about walking
Ask for help when you need it
Admit when you've been wrong about something. Sincere apologies are very powerful!
“Apology is a lovely perfume; it can transform the clumsiest moment into a gracious gift.” – Margaret Lee Runbeck
“Life is a long lesson in humility.” – James M. Barrie
Ignore more of life's little annoyances & B.S.
Laugh at your own foibles & neuroses. Heck, we’re all at least a little nuts, don’t you think??
Slow down
Unplug

I am working on this one!! Gotta listen to my own good advice.

Consider getting out of the convincing business (but remain open to sharing information or insights when the right moment presents itself)
Prioritize maintaining your own sanity
Look for opportunities to say as often as possible - as Kurt Vonnegut loved to advise people - "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is!"
Foster - & really value - good conversation with people. Talking can be a magically healing activity!! (I call it The Whole Darn Karmic Enchilada, & wrote about that here)
Pick up the phone & call someone
Wake up!
Appreciate Nature

The world's a serious mess - to put it mildly. It's kind of a dumpster fire!!

But. Honesty & integrity are not dead. Hallelujah for that!!

Celebrate what remains!
Protect what you love
“If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve obviously never been in bed with a mosquito.” – Anonymous
Just be a good human!
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it’s the only thing.” – Albert Schweitzer
& for sure, for sure, for sure
Count. Your. Blessings!!

Pretty please!

“Love life. Take great pleasure in small offerings. Believe that the world owes you nothing. Understand that every gift given to you is just that.” – Maya Angelou
“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” – Albert Clarke, quoted in Speak Peace in a World of Conflict – What You Say Next Will Change Your World, by Marshall B. Rosenberg
** more great quotations about gratitude