Trust Tour

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(Day 976) My Position On Global Warming

Jul 29, 2012

I have learned a great deal these last 975 days on the Trust Tour. For my final few days I feel compelled to share my position on key issues facing our world. Like most of these tough issues, this topic tends to polarize people.

Chief Joseph once said, “It does not take many words to tell the truth.”

My “current” position on Global Warming is: I need to act as if I am the problem. I have to assume it is happening even though I really don’t know if the planet is warming or not. It seems that every day some respected scientist comes out with a new statement about the record temps and the inevitability that humans are behind it. If there is even a remote possibility that humans are causing the globe to warm, then I have no choice but to act as if it is happening.

I don’t know about you but I am a heavy consumer. I like my freedoms and use them often. I like my lifestyle but at times it creates an amazing amount of waste. Small example is I sometimes like to get take-out food for my family of 4. Have you ever seen the amount of garbage take out meals create? It fills a kitchen can. I also love to travel and do it often. I drive everywhere, sometimes just for pleasure. I leave the lights on more than I should. I stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I have grown up in the unlimited energy world; I like it! I do not want to live without it.

However, it is time for me to look in the mirror as it relates to energy consumption (I have more than my fair share in my belly alone) and I need to take a honest look at my life the way I am using energy. If the scientist are wrong and we are not warming the earth, then all I did was create some short term discomfort for myself. But if the scientist are right then the consequences could be massive, especially for future generations. I don’t want to leave them with a planet that is sick, it would be a betrayal of epic proportions.

Sometimes I can imagine humans to be like a cancer on the surface of the earth. While we gorge ourselves on the earth resources, we seem to have no awareness that we will die along with the host we are feeding off of. Some of us actually speak openly that we can have as much as we want and there will be no consequences. Many of us listen because it is exactly what we want to hear. Who wants to believe it is possible we are killing each other by destroying the environment?

Trust me, I hope none of this is happening. All I can do is take responsibility for my actions.
(Day 968) The Light In The Mirror

Jul 21, 2012

Oh God….. I got pulled over this morning. I felt both helpless and humiliated. What did I do to deserve these bright lights in my mirror? It became clear as the officer tapped on the windshield of my car that the inspection sticker was the culprit.

I fumbled around for my paperwork, finally handing him all my information. He told me to stay seated and walked back to his car (see picture above). The longer it took, the more I found myself becoming defensive. Was it a slow day in the criminal world? Had I really let my fellow man down by not inspecting my 16 month old car? I was causing no harm to anyone. I have a clean driving record. The officer made a risky u-turn at high speed to get me – this is ridiculous. [...]
(Day 950) Dry Cleaner Karma

Jul 3, 2012

Did you ever wake up in the middle of the night wide eyed, thinking OMG I forgot…

Well that happened to me last night. I left some money in my pants pocket. The problem was my pants are at the dry cleaners, on rush for delivery today. So this morning, as I headed to pick up my dry cleaning, I started wondering if the money was in those pockets and if so, was it still there. The amount was also unclear, it might have been as little as $40 or as much as $100. When I arrived the young lady behind the counter looked up at me, immediatly reached behind the counter and handed me an envelope. I had only been there a few times so I was surprised she knew who I was. Even more surprising was the $82.00 I now held in my hand. I thanked her and asked why she returned the money. She said, “Karma.”

Karma in the Indian religions means the concept of “action” or “deed,” understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in the Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh religions.

If everyone lived believing in karma we would all be having a much better experience on the planet. In return for her honesty I gave her half the money. She refused it several times before agreeing to take it. I asked her if I could record her story so you could meet her, again she agreed. Kellie works for East Bay Cleaners in St Pete Florida.