When things are going wrong, or the world around is deteriorating, or if a relationship is going bad, or if our physical or mental environment is being destroyed by something toxic, at what point do we say ‘stop’? At what point do we do something to change it?
Recently, in London Greenpeace had dropped a 2 1/2 tonne concrete sculpture in the entrance to Coca Cola’s London HQ and chained a huge speaker to the railings to draw attention to the fact that 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs and Coke produces billions of plastic bottles and tops which end up polluting the sea and seabirds. When do we say ‘stop’? When there are a handful of seabirds left? Or perhaps never, we just let all the seabirds die?
Every day globally 200,000 acres of trees are lost, so when do we say ‘stop’? At the last acre? Or perhaps we never say ‘stop’, we wait until the planet is barren?
More and more people are developing autism and there is growing evidence to suggest a very strong link to vaccines. Again, when do we say ‘stop’?
The list can go on, of things that the human race is doing to each other and our environment that will eventually reach a point of no return, where saying ‘stop’ won’t matter. It will be, as the phrase goes, ‘after the horse has bolted’.
Perhaps the problem is not a debate about when to stop, as there will always be a debate about how far to go with something and your opinion will be governed by the impact that something is having directly on you.
Perhaps we need to look differently at things and not wait to say ‘stop’ but to say start.
Start to change our habits, our consumption, our purchases of drinks in plastic bottles. We need to start with ourselves and not be reliant on something being stopped by others.
We need to take the lead, to be the first of start something inspiring, something different, to lead by our example.
It’s a choice not focus on how to stop others but to build what we want to see ourselves and inspire others to join.
It is about starting something new, something better, something that creates and builds.
Start by thinking what is the benefit to the human race, to our society, to our culture.
How can I inspire others? How do I make this appealing?
We like our views, our choices and we will not like being prevented. Better to inspire change rather than prohibit.
It may bring the same outcome, but prohibiting is unstainable, inspiring others to take the choice for themselves to change is a long-term success.
Philip Dodson 