I like making New Year’s Resolutions. I make a few different ones every year. They guide me and connect me to what my focus should be for the year ahead. I try set resolutions that take in the bigger picture, less about specifics. It means I am less likely to fail at what ever resolution I make, and more about having a guiding vision to follow and come back to.
I am always looking for ways to live lighter on the planet. I want to always be pushing myself to do more and there is always more that can be done. So while I was thinking about what eco-resolutions I could make for 2015, I started to do a bit of research for inspiration.
When I looked up Eco New Years Resolutions I couldn’t find anything inspiring. I found lots of ideas around using less plastic, biking more, and using the car less, change your light globes…. the list goes on. I really didn’t feel motivated or inspired by any of them. I think you need to be inspired to really take on a new habit or lifestyle choice. So I started thinking about all the things that inspire me and are better for the planet too.
I made this little video to share some of them. Below is a bit more about each one and how it connects to taking care of the planet and why it is needed.
While not all of these may seem Eco oriented – I truly believe they are. They connect to all the values that under pin eco-living.
Watch More Sunsets – Have more time outside… less time watching TV… more time connected to nature.
Take Time to Admire Nature – Watching and admiring nature makes you appreciate it much more, and you’re more likely to care about protecting it. We always need more time to connect with nature.
Leave Only Light Foot Prints – Explore this great planet (near and far) and all it has to offer, but tread lightly and always only leave light footprints when you leave a place.
Choose Experiences Over Things – Memories last a life time, stuff looses it’s value before you even leave the store with it. Experiences will always give you more.
Find Joy In Simple Things – The simple things in life need to be appreciated, once we take joy in simple things, we stop needing more (things) to make us feel happy.
Spend Time Outside Every Day – Even 10 minutes outside every day can fill your soul, make you feel alive, and again connects you to the natural world.
Connect to Something Bigger – Knowing that there is something bigger out there and feeling a connection to it can give you hope. It doesn’t matter what it is, or how you connect to it. Having hope about the future is a critical component to living a sustained eco life every day!
Create Time to Be Still – Settling our mind and body reduces stress, this makes us healthier and more able to stretch ourselves to do more to take care of our planet. It’s a win-win for the planet and for our health
Actively Create Community – Strong local community is the corner stone of Sustainability. We need to not only know our local community, but actively engage in contributing to it. Ideas: Volunteering, organising an event, going to town meetings, saying hi to your neighbors.
Every Day Stop to Smell the Flowers – We rush too much. We need to take time to consider things, to appreciate things, to think clearer. It all starts with smelling the flowers!
Count What Your Grateful for Daily – We have so much in our lives to be grateful for. By recognizing these things we eliminate the desire to always have more.
Keep Things Simple – In every aspect of our lives if we keep things simple we avoid the unnecessary. There is so much pleasure and happiness that can come from simplicity.
Make Planet Positive Choices – We make thousands of choices every day. What if we brought the planet into each choice we make. Start by choosing a planet positive choice each day, and then add more and more planet positive choices every day.
Practice Random Acts of Kindness Daily – We are all connected and so being kind to someone else is actually being kind to everyone. The world just needs more kindness over all.
Go Deeper into Eco Living with A Blissful Eco life e-course – Being open to learning more and doing more to live a Eco Life is the first step, the second is to act. A Blissful Eco Life E-Course is all about being connected with group of like minded people who want to live a life that is more eco and also easy. It starts Jan 18th, and registration is open now – www.blissfulecolife.com
So here is to a more Blissful and Eco 2015!
xx
