Eco-Uplift Articles

 

What's Motivating You to Be Green?
By Amy Phillips-Gary

Do you ever take a minute to stop and look at the
motivations behind the choices you make? More often than
not, life "comes at you fast"--as the commercial says-- and
we mainly react to what's going on around us without tuning
in to why we're creating our lives as we are. Many of us
have set an intention to be "green." Our dedication to
this intention varies, sometimes it waxes and others times
it wans. But what's driving this call to live more
harmoniously with the Earth? What emotions and motivations
fuel our desires to reduce our "ecological footprints" and
live in more environmentally friendly ways?

I think that the emotions, beliefs and reasons why we
choose to be green are just as important as the actions we
take. When you make decisions based on fears, worries, or
guilt, the experience is significantly different than
decisions made from a place of eagerness, excitement, and
openness to expansion. This not only can affect your own
life, but also the lives of those around you whom you
probably want to enrich and enhance-- even the Earth itself.

For example, have you ever set an intention to eat more
vegetables? Perhaps your doctor reported worrying test
results to you and you are motivated by fears for your
health. Or maybe you are concerned that you will gain
weight and get fat if you don't eat more salads and cut
back on other foods, like carbs for instance. These
motivations are certainly valid and even understandable,
but they are also limiting. What if, instead, your
decision to eat more vegetables came out of a desire to
expand your diet? You might realize that you tend to eat
the same foods and would like to mix it up a bit. It could
also be that you feel uplifted by how much leaner, vital
and healthier you feel when your diet is filled with plenty
of veggies.

This shift doesn't have to take years of counseling or
soul-searching to make. It can be as simple as paying
attention to how good you feel (or expect to feel) rather
than how bad you feel (or how bad conditions are). It can
happen in each moment.

It's exactly the same when it comes to being green. Open
up a newspaper, listen to the news, hear the talk in your
community. There is bound to be something about the
worsening condition of our Earth. It might be information
about polar bears, ice caps, greenhouse gases or CO2
emissions. Many of us taking in this "news" end up feeling
overwhelmed and not very hopeful! And it's understandable
that we might make choices to do whatever it takes to turn
conditions around-- whether it relates to climate change,
endangered species, factory farms, or some other area in
need.

What's fueling your green choices?
I encourage you to tune in, and stay tuned in, to how you
are feeling. As you consider making changes in your life
with the overall intention to be more eco-friendly, pay
attention to the motivations behind that urge. If it is a
sense of fear or guilt, notice that. You might ask
yourself if those are the motivators for change you want
driving your life decisions. I know that I'm quite
uncomfortable when my primary emotional state about a topic
is worry, fear, or guilt. Those emotions are certainly
natural and occur for many of us, but they don't have to be
our primary motivators!

If you realize that you tend to act from a place of fear
or guilt-- when it comes to being green or in other areas
of your life-- please be easy with yourself. Heaping
another layer of guilt on yourself is probably only going
to make you feel worse! Instead, develop the habit of
staying in touch with how you're feeling. Rather than
instantly reacting to situations, allow yourself to make
decisions after first checking in with how you feel.

I want to emphasize here that there is no right or wrong
motivation. But wouldn't it be nice to remember that you
are creating your own life? You get to choose the
direction in which your point yourself. And how you feel
is integral to creating the life you want.

What can you shift?
If feeling good is a priority for you, you can incorporate
that into your intention to be green. It's all about
noticing how you are feeling and also about shifting your
attention (and possibly beliefs).

Take the example above of deciding to eat more vegetables.
Perhaps you saw a documentary or read a book about factory
farming and the meat packing industry and are now horrified
to eat meat again. Your choice to eat more vegetables-- or
to become vegetarian-- may come primarily from this
upsetting information you took in. You might feel angry
about how animals are treated and exploited and even want
to join groups to make changes happen. This is certainly a
path you can take.

Do you want your decision and primary state of emotion to
be anger, outrage, or fear? What might be different if you
shift your attention around choosing to become a vegetarian
to one of expansion and excitement? There may be new
recipes and food combinations you are eager to try. You
might also celebrate that, for you, this dietary choice
feels peaceful and harmonious with the animals we share the
planet with and the Earth itself.

Keep your shifted attention on how you feel and what you
want and allow others to figure out what is a match for
their own lives. When you try to impose your ways of being
green on the rest of the world, a lot of frustration and
even feelings of helplessness can result. We are blessed
to live on a truly diverse planet. You can rejoice in your
uplifting and expansion-oriented decisions and let others
make their own.

So what's motivating you to be green?
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Amy Phillips-Gary is a free-lance writer, homeschool mom and
personal growth adventurer.

 

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Susie and Otto Collins are Relationship Coaches and authors of 4 books on relationships and personal growth. To get their FREE weekly newsletter filled with practical tips and ideas for creating more connected, passionate and alive relationships send a blank message to mailto:collins@aweber.com 
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