Perspective

I've been feeling stressed lately. Overwhelmed. I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. My problems are big; my God seems small. Clearly, I need an "attitude adjustment" . . . perspective. Or, as my father would say, "A good, swift kick in the *** to set me on Main Street."

So, here's some perspective. My source for this information is last month's Crown Financial online magazine.

In 1990 the World Bank established international standards for classifying poverty. Essentially, this enables us to understand how much money people have for necessities if were were all on equal footing. These standards allowed for the world’s population to be more accurately classified into two groups: the Poor, who live on $2 per day, and the Ultra-Poor, who live on $1 per day. Using these measures, 1.2 Billion people are Ultra-Poor and 2.6 Billion are Poor. That's Billion with a "B" folks. Almost 4 million people living on less than $2 per day. Combined, this group equals 53 percent of the world’s population. Equally as significant, one-half of the world’s population is under the age of 25.
Consider the nation of Zambia where an estimated 86 percent of the populaton is either Poor or Ultra-Poor. The unemployment rate is 50 percent and inflation is more than 18 percent. Most people are employed in subsistence agriculture, and HIV/AIDS is a significant problem.

Hmmmmm, somehow I don't feel quite so unfortunate right now. How about you? There it is . . . perspective.

"Live simply so that others might simply live." Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

You'd Better Clean Your Plate . . . There Are Little Kids Starving . . . HERE!

This weekend I read an article in Delicious Living, a free magazine from our co-op. I'm still reeling from what I read about wasting food:

If only we all had smaller eyes — or bigger stomachs. U.S. residents throw away about 100 billion pounds of food every year (nearly 3,000 pounds per second), enough to feed 60 million people. At the same time, more than 35 million Americans are hungry or on the edge of hunger. At greatest risk are households with children, families headed by a single woman, and people with incomes below the poverty line. We've got an abundance of food; we just waste lots of it. Consider this: We recycle half of all used paper, a third of all used metal, but only 2 percent of leftover food.

I'm beyond horrified. Long time readers know my dad lived through The Great Depression and, believe me, there was nothing great about it. He got his first job when he was 4 years old, setting up pins at the bowling alley. A year later he got a job hauling scrap metal and tires over a mile. When he grew up, he wasn't afraid to invest in the stock market, but the one thing he HATED was wasted food. Consequently, so do I.

Please read the rest of the article here to find out what you can do to help. And remember these common sense rules from my dad:

1. If you put it on your plate, eat it.

2. If you don't know how much you can eat, or if you will like it, take only a tablespoon -- you can always go back for more.

Reminder: If you want to enter to win one of two copies of Outlaw Marshal by Al and JoAnna Lacy, please send your name and mailing address to seewhykinsman@gmail.com; winners will be drawn Friday, February 20th.

Also, today (Noon, Eastern Time) I'm going to be a guest author at reducefootprints.blogspot.com. Please make sure you check it out and click back there often for all kinds of information and tips regarding how to minimize your impact on this bruised and battered planet. Walk softly over to reducefootprints.blogspot.com.