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| Every dawn brings new choices |
For some a new year is an opportunity to make commitments that deep down they know will never last. 2020 presents an opportunity to make a real difference. No feeling down because the resolution lasted just a few days, instead seeing the new year as the start of a new way of acting, of living, of making a difference for ourselves and for others.
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| Closer connections to nature help our health and wellbeing |
A few years ago the five steps to wellbeing were introduced, Connecting, Being Active, Giving, Learning, Being Mindful. Each of these can be achieved as we move to be active citizens, people who don’t abdicate responsibility to elected representatives but instead hold them to account, make them represent us all and keep their promises. Being active we can engage more fully with our natural world, walking, cycling, simply getting out more, enjoying the world around us. We can learn about the issues facing us, not as threats but as areas we can act on, giving our time to help our community, our world, connecting with other people, being mindful of how we spend our time, our money, how we use our resources and how this can be changed. One thing to add, a 6th step is To Have Fun, instead of being overcome with the negative actions of others, the dangers of despondency and inaction, take steps to do things that make you laugh, make you smile.
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| Be childlike, have fun |
A story from the Buddhist tradition uses the example of a lotus, a flower that sits tightly wrapped in its leaves at the bottom of a pond, a lake. Sits amid all the weeds and mud and then rises above them, breaks through the surface where it unfolds and blossoms. We can do the same, taking on challenges and rising above them.
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| Lotus like we can thrive, rise above the weeds and mud holding us back |
Above all remember the new decade is a real opportunity to grow personally, to help others, to protect our planet, because we have to be responsible ourselves, challenging others to have stronger healthier communities where we all thrive without wrecking our environment.
Above all we no longer have the chance to say we didn’t know what was wrong or what to do about it, instead we have the chance to make a difference and to be able to face our children, everyone’s children in the future. Answering the question
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| A poster at the XR protest in Trafalgar Square |
