What would it be? Something everyone can do – in this world of specialization there is not a whole lot that everyone can do.
Think about it.
Think about it like you would a brain teaser. Think ‘laterally’.
Think.
Think.
Think about other people’s feelings
Have empathy mate! Treat people how people want to be treated, think about that. Think about why a person blew up over such a tiny thing; an over-the-top emotional reaction usually means there is something deeper going on. Think about it. Think about people, and how you treat them.
Think of the consequences
Think of the consequences of your actions and lifestyle, and those of the social constructs and systems which govern our lives. Are our social constructs, like governments, educational systems, markets and communities generating positive outcomes?
What impacts, positive and negative, are your consumer choices making? Spend a Saturday looking into the component history of a pair of jeans or your cell phone.
Think of positive solutions
I believe that human beings are defined by an ability to solve problems with innovative solutions. I also suspect that luxury, in both the ancient and modern world, and ‘easy-living’ dulls us; we need problems to solve in order to develop our ability, or perhaps even our humanity.
In a sense we need to be programmers, or hackers, depending on how you look at it; we need to develop integrated solutions using the tools at our disposal, interacting with our local environment. We need to debug our cycles and our systems. We need to optimize our ecological footprints and our governments; oh we desperately need them to go lean.
Think of opportunities
After all of this thinking, you may be tired. Get some water, stretch out a little.
But I have good news! When we think about consequences and impacts, both positive and negative, and identify problems causing negative outcomes, we are also identifying opportunities. An opportunity to solve a problem is an opportunity to build a better world, albeit piece by piece.
Thinking has power. It enriches us, and connects us to the rest of the world. Think positively, think purposefully, and think deeply. It’s the one thing anybody can do to make a positive impact on humanity.
Come check out the ecoTrain!
