10 Lessons I Learned From Mother Nature

22 Apr 10 Lessons I Learned From Mother Nature

April 22, 2014 –A.K.A. Earth Day

If you don’t know it’s Earth Day, don’t fret. Many people don’t. But, what you should be fretting about is the amount of personal development you are missing if you decide to bypass nature and her splendor. Admittedly, I occasionally forget what the Earth does for me. I take her for granted even though I do my best to visit sacred Earth spaces often. I am sorry, Earth. I should visit you more often. I get busy.

Luckily I have reminders of when I begin to take the Earth for granted– when I get too busy: I feel scattered; I lose things more often; I am less patient and less tolerant of other people and things; and I overlook obvious solutions to problems in my life. I know, then, that I need to re-connect with nature. I need to get quiet. I need to ground myself–literally and figuratively–so that I can align with the natural rhythms of the Earth and shut out the artificial noise so often created by cell phones, radios, T.V’s, and computer screens. This is when I listen the best. This is when I hear the best.

For this 2014 Earth Day, I give you my best lessons I have learned from nature, and I hope you will decide to immerse yourself with nature today, next week, and whenever you feel the need to ground yourself to something entirely stable and something infinitely larger than yourself. Mother Nature has been one of my best and most favorite teachers.

Lessons From Nature:

1. There many different levels of organization going on in our world. Despite the size of some, like microscopic bacteria that live in the soil, everything is important and interconnected to one another.

2. If you want to notice something, you have to slow down and be quiet to observe it.

3. You can try and stop natural forces, but, like water working its way around a blocked river, the natural desires and forces of the Earth will find a way to overcome obstacles.

4. The Earth provides us with our most basic needs. All of the rest is kind of unnecessary.

5. When I look at old growth trees, I remember that I am here for a mere flash of time, and my time must be spent honestly and earnestly.

6. The stars remind me that I am a little, tiny, speck in the Universe; they make me feel small, curious, and awe-struck.

7. Life and death are natural parts of our world.

8. The Earth provides the soil, and we reap what we sow.

9. If we abuse the Earth, we lose the Earth.

10. The world does not revolve around me; it revolves around the sun.

These lessons, taught to me by many excursions in the woods, the waters, and the fields, stay with me as I work to make the world a better place. I would love to hear what you are doing to make the world a better place. Please leave your comments in honor of Earth Day 2014!

Today, at noon EST, I will be discussing green dentistry on a live tweetchat with the Eco Dentistry Association. Sign in on Twitter, type in #Ecodentistry, and join the conversation. The theme is, “It’s the little things that add up.” Every profession has their way of affecting the environment. I would like to help make dentistry greener and more sustainable. It truly is the little things that add up…and the little people like us who make a difference. Peace.

 

No Comments

Post A Comment