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It is up to us

Litter

Last week I was walking along the street and I saw a McDonalds packet lying on the ground. I saw it. I noticed it. I walked a step past it. I walked back, picked it up and then put it in the nearest bin.

If I have seen it and acknowledged it I have a choice – I can leave it there for someone else to see and acknowledge and perhaps do something about it. Or I can do something about it myself.

It is a small act, but it relates to so much in our lives.

I notice that I haven’t put on my exercise gear and sweated in a few days. I can choose to ignore it or do something about it.

I notice that I really dislike Mondays and I am starting to resent my job. I can choose to pretend I don’t care or I can start to find ways to enjoy the job or find ways to start leaving the job.

I notice that my elderly next-door-neighbour is struggling up the road with their groceries. I can choose to go over and help or I can choose to pretend that I don’t see them and continue on my way.

I notice that my fridge has very little food in it. I can choose to get takeaways or I can choose to walk down to the supermarket to buy some food to cook myself some dinner.

I notice that my partner has forgotten to put the rubbish out again. I can choose to get angry and upset about it and huff and puff around the house or I can choose to tell him that he has forgotten and ask if he can take it out.

I notice that an item on my to do list has been there for months and I still haven’t got around to completing it. I can choose to berate myself for not doing it, I can do it then and there, I can schedule time later in the week to complete it or I can decide it obviously isn’t that important to me and remove it from the list forever.

 

As soon as something has entered our consciousness, no matter how big or small we can choose to act on it or leave it.

We can pretend we didn’t see it or we can acknowledge its presence. We can choose to do something about it or we can turn a blind eye. We can make a big deal about the thought or just let it go.

Thoughts and ideas come and go all the time in our lives. It is sometimes hard to keep up with them. We can fixate on them or we can let them go; we have the choice. It is up to us to replay the thought over and over again. It is up to us to take action or walk past. It is up to us to speak our truth or hide it away.

It is up to us.

Image: International Tidy Man courtesy of Wikimedia

2 thoughts on “It is up to us”

  1. Love this Robyn, and agree wholeheartedly. Also congratulations on your Through the Looking Glass series, wonderful to have you enter my day for a few moments with Robyn warmth and insight, looking forward to next weeks question already! Well done. T x

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