Recreational Whinge:  It’s important we remember the past and really look at it closely – and LEARN something – else we’re going to continue to repeat the same mistakes and/or we won’t build on our successes.

There’s a wonderful video on the Australian news (ABC News) online that reflects on 2009.  Please watch the video here and then come back to this blog.

There have been moments of hope such as President Obama’s inauguration.  In time I’m confident this will prove that hope can become a reality.  In the meantime, I wish the nay-sayers would give him a chance to do his job and to do it well.

There were moments of hope that didn’t pan out such as the fiasco in Copenhagen this year.  How can people still not agree that humans DO have an impact on our environment in different ways and that we MUST act together?  Yes, economies are at stake but economies can also be redesigned, certain industries closed/reworked and the people retrained.  We have amazing technology and science now and wonderfully innovative minds for the future.  Why are we not BRAVE enough to make the significant changes now that we know we must we use our wisdom and not our fear to make decisions?

We have seen resilience demonstrated on every part of this planet – surviving bushfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, pandemics, starvation, poverty and the devastation caused by war, the arrogance, stupidity and/or hate of certain world leaders.

The global financial crisis brought home to all of us the consequences of greed, and yet we continue to be greedy and seem to care nothing for the impact this has on others.

We continue to see HUMAN RIGHTS ignored nearly everywhere in one way or another.

We continue to see individuals and groups do horribly hateful things in the name of their beliefs.

There are countless people around the world devoted to creating scams, taking advantage of and hurting others through their actions, particularly with the things they create using technology.  Technology should have been a gift, but some use it as a weapon of greed and hate.

I’ve seen wonderful people question why it is so hard to find people with HIGH IDEALS who truly live and breathe integrity, positivity and are committed to making a bigger and more loving impact for others.  I witness people every day who don’t believe their goals are possible because they feel people around them don’t want them to succeed.

The biggest disaster of our times in my opinion is the epidemic of people relinquishing their responsibilities- on anything and everything!

People can be quick to blame, or not act, or not try, or do the wrong thing even when they know it’s wrong.

People can continue to embrace the excuses without even trying to find the solutions.

People can often be all talk – and sometimes too much talk – but not demonstrate any integrity to the things they say.

People seem to enjoy being oppositional instead of trying to find the things that bind us and leverage those.

People often avoid what they think will be conflict but end up creating more conflict in the process.

And when I read blogs and comments on everything from YouTube to online news stories, I continue to see truly hateful comments being left by people about other people.  Disgraceful.

We’ve also seen amazing inventions, achievements, breakthroughs and triumphs.  Yet these get overshadowed by the horrible stuff we also create.

We seem to be letting go of our responsibility to pay attention and learn.

The Positive Spin:  I have faith that some people will have a paradigm shift and move from hate to love.  I have faith that world leaders will continue to talk about doing the right thing and that for some of them, they’ll break out and do the right thing on their own even if the rest of the world doesn’t follow suit just yet.

Many will set positive examples and I have faith that others will learn from them, at their own pace and in their own time.  Although I may want it to happen faster, I have faith it will happen at some point.

And I’m grateful for all that I’ve learned and am continuing to learn.  I’m grateful I have the support to continue to change myself, my thinking and my behaviours.

I’m grateful that I have the ability to share these thoughts with the world and I have faith that my words, in any medium, have a positive impact as long as I hold to my responsibilities to be respectful, considerate and loving in how I express myself and in how I live my life.