karma karma everywhere

For the first time in a while I'm really taking notice of my thoughts and surroundings. The Law of Karma has resonated with me in an unexpected way. I've never thought about karma in the realm of choices. As in every single choice you make can affect you and those around you. I had always thought of karma in a world of deeds. He did this so he has good karma. She did that so she has bad karma.

This idea of conscious choice making has sat with me and is forcing me to think before I speak and act. I dig it.

The other day my co-teacher hit a kid, hard. I'm not going to get into my views on corporal punishment in the school system at this time, another blog maybe. But what I saw really hit home. This kid, after being hit, walked out of class and hit a smaller kid, hard. IN YOUR FACE KARMA. And it made me think - your actions don't just affect you and the next person but they have an affect on a multitude of people that you aren't even directly connected to. My coie hit the kid knowing how it would affect her and the kid. Did she think that another kid would be affected by it. Probably not. But he was.

Ripple effect.

Deepak says, before acting ask yourself "Will the choice I'm making now bring happiness to me and those around me".

Imagine we all asked ourselves that before acting...what a world.

Karma is everywhere. And it works in different ways. Just as we want to avoid negative actions we want to embrace the good and pay it forward. Who knows what something as simple as just being nice could trigger.

What kind of reactions do you want to set in motion?

just add water

Today is Blog Action Day. This means that thousands of bloggers from over 125 countries will be blogging about the same topic: Clean water. I'm happy to be a part of this.

the facts

Did you know that nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water. That's 1 in 7 people that will struggle and suffer from disease and possible death.

3.575 million people die each year from water related disease, 90% are children under the age of 5. Which means, every 20 seconds a child dies from a water related disease.

Woman and children across the globe spend a total of 200 million hours each day collecting water for domestic use. 40 billion hours a year are spent in search of water in Africa alone.

Less than 1% of the world's fresh water is readily accessible for direct human use.

water on the daily

While a billion people go without water in the developing world, we here in the industrialized world are using much more than our fair share.

I was surprised to learn that it takes 24 litres of water to produce one hamburger. 1,514 litres to produce a cotton t-shirt and 6,813 litres for a pair of jeans.

Water consumption is everywhere. Even in places we may not really think about.

what can we do?

Just getting into the mindset of conserving water is a start. Here are some things we can do around the house that will go a long way.

*Take shorter showers.
*Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth or shave.
*Turn the water off while you wash dishes or vegetables.
*Only use the dishwasher or washing machine for full loads. Or set the dial accordingly.
*Check pipes for leaks regularly.
*Avoid the garburator by using a compost bucket.
*Use common sense! Any time you are running water to wash or water something water is being wasted. Fill a bucket, fill a sink, fill a bottle and use only what you need.

websites

Check out Water.org and Charity:water to learn about ways that you can get involved.

A donation as little as $20 gives one person clean water for 20 years. Crazy right.

Don't have an extra buck, don't worry. Just pass the message along. Spreading awareness is one way we can combat the water crisis. This is what Blog action day is all about, awareness.

just think

The only water we will ever have, is the water that we have now.

~~one love~~

sign me :)

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week 2

This week is all about The Law of Giving and Receiving.

So, I shall give a lovely little quote that I came across.

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao Tzu