In my…ever so humble opinion…the point of life is to know better…so I can do better…all the while growing closer to the One who makes it all possible.
To consistently learn and grow and improve and BE better. To every day, in some tiny way, DESERVE the blessings that I have been given. Though I know and understand that a thousand lives where I live a hundred years each and spend 24hours a day doing “good” could never even come close to me “earning my blessings”. I just want, in my small human way, to show that I am grateful and thankful.
I’m a fan of things that rock you…that shake me up and mess up my pretty world. And I’m not talking about drugs or alcohol or crazy parties…I’m talking knowledge, information, know how. And I don’t mean “knowing it all”.
Give me a good book…or documentary or factual story. Anything that will change me for the good…to take me closer to being the person God has in mind for me to be.
I could give you a thousand examples of this in my life…little things that I have learned that have turned me this way and that…that have changed habits, or decisions or what I read or listen to. All instances where I suddenly KNOW better…therefore (in my opinion) I expect myself to DO better. Knowledge has led to all sorts of changes in my life…getting saved made me clean up my music (even if most of it was “good” in the first place)…knowledge of business practices keeps me out of some stores…information about certain businesses will lead me to certain brands and not others.
And before you say it…I don’t just take information at face value…I do my research, find (what I think to be) the truths and act accordingly to how I feel led to change.
Research on fast foods keeps me away from fast food. Reports about restaurant quality will keep me OUT of certain restaurants. I sanitize almost everything my kids touch in public…in my hope of saving them from a germ or two.
My most recent big bulb moment involves our choices about the foods we purchase. For some time now we have bought organic…mostly milk, yogurt and some other things here and there. Honestly I did it mostly to avoid all the “extras” that get pumped into animals. Lately my thoughts have turned…I have a drive to buy organic for more than just what is put into the food….but the treatment of the food before it is food.
Don’t get me wrong…I totally believe that animals are here for our eating. I have no qualms eating beef or chicken or anything else that lives and breathes.
But I am feeling less and less ok about eating things that were mistreated before they came to the market. This kind of thinking has been on my radar for sometime…but I was without the push to change and DO better. Then we watched Food Inc.
Done and done. I officially know better. Don’t watch that movie unless you want to change how you look at each purchase that you make in the store. One part that really stuck with me was when a huge chicken supplier wouldn’t allow cameras on their farms…in their pens…I can stop wondering…what don’t they want me to see?… and do I want to support a company that isn’t transparent in its practices?
Since watching we have made some changes…slowly but surely moving toward a larger organic lifestyle. I don’t want to make a million changes all at once…cause that is a recipe for failure…instead we are going slow. Starting with most of our meat. Now if it were just me…that would be another story…I could live on granola and yogurt and peanut butter and fruit and fresh bread forever. Being 100% organic would be EASY for just me.
I was in the grocery store today to buy bacon to make with waffles.
And I could not bring myself to buy any of the bacon there because none of it was organic. I couldn’t stop thinking about the movie and clips from it. I’ve been having the same trouble with chicken, beef, etc.
I was annoyed. I wanted to buy my bacon and go home. Not buy the rest of my groceries…get in my car AND go to Whole Foods. But I did. Because I KNOW better. And I felt like my convenience and saving of a dime was not worth compromising on something that I am feeling more strongly about every day. I’m learning more and more that convenience and ease is often at the cost of more than I am willing to compromise.
So I got in my car and drove to Whole Foods. And paid $2 more than I would have at the other store.
Honestly…the whole time I was driving there and shopping and paying…I was thinking to myself “Stupid granola crunching conscience”.
But it was organic…from pigs raised on a farm where they see the sun and are treated with respect. And I got some other things that I needed while I was there too…so it wasn’t a complete loss.
My point I guess…is what’s the point of learning and growing if it doesn’t change us?
I’m not at all saying that my choices are always right or best and that you should take up my opinion as a substitute for your own…and this is NOT a judgement on anyone who eats ALL non-organic or whatever…
but I hope we can all strive to wake up each day and learn a little more…do we can do a little better.
At least that is my goal. 🙂