One Apple A Day #1058
How comes that so often we know what we should do yet we don't do it?
This question came up yesterday in a conversation about climate change. These days leaders from all over the world gathered in Glasgow for the COP26, a fundamental UN Conference on Climate Change.
Almost everywhere, the feeling is that it will be another occasion for well-written statements inviting everybody (else) to take bold and urgent actions. Bold actions that won't be taken, not even by the ones asking for them.
I'm aware that this challenge is a very complex one that can't be solved without a genuinely holistic approach that question the foundations of our society. But that's for another morning apple.
In our conversation, the focus was on that opening question. We know what we should do. Our leaders know but also us, everyday people, know what behaviours help the environment. Yet, it's hard to implement those behaviours in our lives in the same way it's hard for leaders to enforce the needed policies.
That's when I remembered this quote from Liminal Thinking by Dave Gray.
"The reason that people do things, especially heroic or major things, things that take a lot of effort, is because they care."
That's it. It's not "knowing what to do" that gets us to act. Emotions spark actions. If we don't feel something twisting in our guts, knowing that the oceans are dying or forests are disappearing, we won't take those bold actions. That's why a shift in consciousness is needed. To become aware that we are one with everything. Then, we will be ready to take those bold actions.