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14 New Year's resolutions for our world.

12/28/2013

4 Comments

 
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1.   Take better care of our women and children.
We need to do a much better job protecting those who cannot defend themselves.  Our mothers, daughters, and sons deserve our utmost care. 

2.   Be good to our environment.
Now, we know better, yet we keep on allowing out planet to be poisoned to a fatal degree because of greed and laziness.  Our Mother Earth is giving us life, so respecting her should be a priority.

3.   Stop hurting innocent people.
Terrorism, mass shootings, genocides, drone strikes, torture, false imprisonment, and the struggle of refugees should have no place in our world.

4.   Empower others.
The fastest way to change the world for the better is to help, encourage, and strengthen others, not ourselves.

5.   Talk less and listen more.
Everyone wants to be right, everyone rallies for their own agenda, and everyone says “but what about me?!”  Only by stopping that fast-moving train and instead wanting to listen to others can we foster understanding, and then compassion. 

6.   Eat real food.
Enough with the genetically modified, processed, radiated, and laboratory produced quasi-foods.  They’re sickening our society so let’s go back to the good, natural stuff. 

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7.   Celebrate our differences.
Diversity shouldn’t be something we shy away from - that only leads to more fear and isolation.  It’s time to embrace the vivid and rich differences among us so we can see them for what they really are: beautiful. 

8.   Strive for a global community.
We are 7 billion members of the same species on the same planet at the same time in a big, infinite, timeless universe.  If that isn’t enough in common to see ourselves as brothers and sisters in the same global family, I don’t know what is.

9.  Understand the real struggle.
Conflicts in this world are never about who did what to whom, political parties, nations, or even religious ideologies.  The true struggle throughout history has always been about those who bloodlust for money and power, and their efforts to distract and control the disenfranchised.

10.   Grow strong enough to be tolerant and compassionate.
Real strength is never about standing over someone; it’s about helping them up.  Our first instinct is often to judge, label, and defend our egos against others, but we should try to see ourselves as their kindly, warm-hearted benefactors, instead.

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11.   Invest in the next generation.
If only we could build schools, not bombs; provide opportunities, not force opinions, and nurture our youth to rise above the mistakes we’ve made - the world will be an amazing place within a very short time. 

12.   Don’t give up on the world.
To heal our planet, we need to demand positive changes from our leaders, our fellow citizens, and especially ourselves.  This is not negotiable – NOW is the time.

13.    Slow down.
Stop.  Breathe.  Look around you.  Breathe again!  Smile.  Laugh.  Absorb the things you love that make you happy and let go of everything else.  For this, you will never feel regret. 

14.    Spread only light.
My final New Year’s resolution for our world is that we try to spread only that which is good, true, and pure in our short time on earth, so we may help and serve the other life forms around us.  That is the only legacy that matters.  


Have a great 2014!

-Norm    :-)  


4 Comments
Stephanie Rudat link
12/28/2013 03:18:50 pm

Legit. And to think how simple these are to apply every day... thank you for spelling out the beautiful ways of life so succinctly.

Reply
Norm Schriever
12/29/2013 12:38:46 pm

Gracias, Steph!

Reply
Adam Williams
12/29/2013 04:07:34 pm

I hear you bro. 14 steps everybody can easily follow, that would make such a difference!

Reply
Suzanne Evans RN
1/19/2014 02:47:21 am

I also have volunteered at Spitler school and YES--IT IS AMAZING! The kids smiling faces tell it all! And also YES to Kompong Khleang! My daughter's response to this floating village was "UNREAL"!

Reply



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    Norm Schriever

    Norm Schriever is a best-selling author, expat, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. He travels the globe, telling the stories of the people he finds, and hopes to make the world a little bit better place with his words.   

    Norm is a professional blogger, digital marketer for smart brands around the world,  and writes for the Huffington Post, Hotels.com, and others.

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