One day Facebook wrote a message that inspired me to focus on an important theme for me.
The message was: “Today is Earth Day, Deborah. Today we are to think about the influence we have, and make a positive change.” Did you get one like this too, and what did you then think?
Perhaps you felt inspired for a few seconds and shared it without giving it further thought? Or perhaps you really stopped to think about how you could make changes? Or are you one of those who are getting fed up with all of these special days, and you feel a little overwhelmed?
There is a Waffle Day to symbolize Spring, Egg Day to promote the unique and fantastic qualities of eggs, and more solemn and serious theme days too.
There are many special days, and I understand what those who originated the idea in the first place wanted to do. It’s just that now we have so many days when we are to focus on different ideas, that we may end up in the group of people who no longer feel engaged by them. When we lose sight of the good intention, it does more harm than good.
The message encouraged me to use the day to think about the influence we have, and to make a positive change.
What I say is that we should raise our awareness about how we influence the world around us every single day, and not just on one particular day. Our thoughts and behavior come from attitudes buried in our subconscious, and this is where you and I need to do something about it. Attitude changes don’t happen by themselves; you and I must be willing to raise our awareness about values that lead to good choices and actions.
There is one day that made me especially happy when I found it. March 20 is the official United Nations International Day of Happiness. Starting in 2015, happiness is a global goal together with other goals for sustainability, to develop an international way of measuring progress as an alternative to the traditional growth goal.
Society is moving towards other values than the materialistic, or as I say it, our “outer appearances.” We must begin to examine our inner values and attitudes, and when we make that change then the special days will no longer be necessary. We will have created a different understanding about how you and I influence our world.
Let every single day be an active day for raising awareness about our own values, so that we can live according to our new values every day.
Deborah Borgen
Founder