If a certain daily news
paper will forgive me for using a slogan of theirs, I have always been a firm believer in the adage that “Perspective is everything”.
The significance of being able to place things in their proper perspective is glaringly obvious when I consider the fact that I am the parent of 4 young children. As a father I fully understand that my ability or inability to put matters in their proper perspective will have a direct impact on my children and how they perceive things as well. If I am able to view things from a broader viewpoint as opposed to one that is narrower and perhaps slightly blinded, I am placing myself in a better position to make the right decisions with respect to the overall well being of my children.
During our most recent Thanksgiving weekend, and in between the gatherings and the gastronomic indulgences I took some time to do the obligatory reflective overview of what I am indeed thankful for. Aside from the standard acknowledgments I couldn’t help but focus in on how thankful I am to be a part of a growing populace of grassroots educators and motivators who have been given the job to turn around our societies self destructive practices and accompanying attitudes regarding our environment.
Personally speaking, I consider that keeping a proper perspective with respect to our current environmental crisis as one of the most critical as a parent. I have the honor of being one of only 274 Canadians that have been personally trained by former U.S. Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore to deliver presentations on Climate Change. While Mr. Gore taught us how to present a version of his climate change slide show as was made famous in the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” he also instructed us that in order for our presentations to be effective it would ultimately have to become our own as opposed to a scripted version of his.
Since spending a weekend with Mr. Gore in Montreal back in April of 2008 I have spoken to thousands of people. They have been government leaders, business professionals, educators, students and a wide cross section in between. Over time I have come to learn that while my message is about the need to change, I won’t be successful in leading them to the requisite changes without an understanding of what makes people want to change anyway.
The simple truth is that whenever someone is being asked to change, whether it is to change their attitudes towards the environment, their health regime, their work habits, their relationship habits, etc. change will never come without two factors being present. The first is an awareness of the fact that change is necessary and the second is to have a viable and sustainable motivation to change. This is where perspective comes in when I am speaking to parents.
While there is certainly no shortage of ways that someone can be made aware of the need to change our destructive environmental habits, finding the right motivator for an individual or category of individuals can be highly effective. Where parents are concerned, there is typically no more powerful reminder of the need to change than to remind them of their responsibilities to their children.
A famous Native American Proverb states that “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors – rather we borrow it from our children.” Similarly, there is a well known Chinese Proverb that states “One generation plants the trees, the next gets the shade.” While change is always difficult I seldom get resistance when I remind parents of our need to leave our children a home that they can still flourish in once we are gone.
As parents we must accept the fact that our responsibilities to our children are far more significant than any reticence one feels about the need to change our destructive environmental habits. Parenting by its very design is a selfless and not selfish act. While our destructive environmental practices have been largely based on selfish tendencies such as indulgence and excess, we as parents must continue to remind ourselves of our responsibility to provide a legacy for our children. If we can view our role as parents as one of Leadership as well as Stewardship, we may ultimately find the sustainable motivation to carry us through this remarkable and historic period of necessary change.
The future well being of our children and grandchildren hinder on our ability to make the necessary changes both within ourselves and the world at large. Being given the opportunity to speak with a loud, clear and recognized voice on this subject is something that means a great deal to me. I’ll personally be damned if I’m going to irresponsibly leave this place any worse than how it was when I arrived and I know that I have the power and the passion to make sure it doesn’t happen. Everyone reading this blog needs to remember that as parents you too have the same opportunity to impart these critical messages to your children and to lead by your very actions just as I have through the giving of my presentations.
The only question I ask of you now is…will you fight the fight with me?!
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