7 Steps to Low Footprint Living...
If you’re reading this, you’ve already taken the first step, which is to be curious about what to do about the sustainability problem.
And you’re probably done with waiting for others to fix the problems you care about. We cannot fix the trend on our own, but one at a time, we can choose to not make it worse by making our own lives sustainable.
So our assumption is that you want to get real about lasting change in your relationship to food and the natural world from which we get our air and water and plant-based medicine.
Regardless of what the world is doing, you are going to be true to your values and get a little better at walking your inner talk.
Are we good so far?
Follow Your Excitement
When you go deeply into any of life’s questions and come eventually upon the feeling of being a little excited at what you see in your mind’s eye, you know then where to give your attention.
The following 7 steps are, to us, a little exciting. They’re like seven petals on a flower, peeling back and opening in layers until the fragrance of simple truth wafts up from within.
Everyone’s vision of being a better person in a more sustainable world is unique to them. What all such visions have in common is the sustainability theme, which most always involves a befriending of the natural world and an appreciation of all it gives.
It’s a deeply satisfying and joyful approach to life. We can highly recommend how pleasurable and how beautiful it can be.
“Passion is a feeling that tells you: this is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in my way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.” – Wayne Dyer
#1 – Own Your Life
Only you know what you need to do. The same is true for everyone. So grant others the freedom to live as they choose, and take as your own the right to decide what is true and right for you.
You’ll be amazed how much energy you can reclaim for yourself by not wasting it trying to convert others to do or say or believe as you do.
Find your own pace for change. If you want a lot of change, do something small every day. Give yourself time. Old habits die hard. We suggest to let them die gracefully, and to thank them for the ways they served you in the past.
When you keep your imagination engaged in a new vision of the future that deeply moves you, eventually old habits fade from life like forgotten toys. Only later might we notice (with some delight) that old stories are no longer in charge of our choices.
#2 – Get Real
Ask the question – do you really care? Are you bothered about what is happening to the natural world? Do you feel an obligation to those will inherit the planet once you’re done with it?
Ask it sincerely. If you’re not sure, ask a search engine. Be clear to yourself about your answer. Be authentic with how you live whatever you believe. The alternative is … well, just fake.
If you care, keep reading to hone and nourish your focus. If not, take the blue pill and believe whatever you want.
#3 – Know Thyself
Decide what you value in your life. You know what you value by how often you give it your attention.
If you want more stuff, more attention, more sex, more cash, more power, it’s handy to see that stuff. If another part of you would rather slow down, fall more deeply in love and smell the roses of life, it’s handy to see that too. How your life unfolds from here will depend on which vision you give more attention to.
Are your dreams balanced and supportive of each other, or are they competing? Or are you lost or heartbroken and hoping to be rescued? Or determined to take control in amongst all that chaos and danger?
The ways we stop ourselves from growing are infinite in their mischievous ways. Everyone has to find their own way through their own maze, guided by the north star of whatever you hold most vividly in your imagination.
Browse 150 vegan food products
Organic Vegan Cosmetics
Heaps of vegan products here too
Food is always medicine
# 4 – Stay Positive
This coin has two sides … building a positive vision for the future, and not dismantling it a hundred times a day with negative self talk.
Dare to dream, and follow where your whole being wants to go. Then with every step, adapt as you go. Dance with the vision of your future, without losing sight of who you want to become.
Negative self talk is the way we sabotage our dreams. Just as you would be careful what you say to those you love that are telling you of their dreams, be careful with yourself too.
Encourage visions of a better you living in more luminous times, but give only minimal airtime to the thoughts of failure and possible loss. Like with any critic, the way to peace is through the fires of truth.
You deserve to be supported to be your best self. If no-one else is willing, at least you can support yourself. It’s the first act of self love and brings lasting treasure.
#5 – Do The Work
We create our future with our minds, by where we choose to place our attention and the meaning we make from what we imagine.
If you want more of a say in how your life unfolds from here, turn your gaze inwards and begin to watch your mind creating the world you are living into.
Choose when you can to not give your attention to desires that are not aligned with your values. Turn away from fantasising about what you do not want.
Change for the better happens when we stop telling ourselves convenient lies and get real about being responsible for the life we have.
#6 – Fuel the Fire
Find your right attitude. What vision fires up your inspiration? Think of it often.
Make friends with not knowing what to do all the time. Watch out for negativity masquerading as ‘common sense’. Stay positive.
Balance the needs of body, mind and heart. When one is ignored it will become unwell. Trust the healing intelligence of your body. Trust the intuition of your heart. Trust your mind to be curious enough to find a way to who you want to become.
#7 – Bumble Bee the Change
“Life is too important to take it seriously” is a quote from Oscar Wilde that we find deeply true.
Have fun. Cultivate humour. Be creative. Notice and give thanks for beauty.
Avoid negative thoughts, people and places. Unless you decide that’s the future your really most want.
Dream of positive outcomes, then get busy making them come true, with small steps every day.
Let yourself be happy for no good reason. Smile at life and it will smile back.
