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The River of Life
The River of Life
Imagine you are finishing a nature walk, and you arrive at the banks of a beautiful fresh river, with sparkling water and the sounds and smells of life all around you.
As you put your hand in the fresh water to wash your face, perhaps you can take a sip of natures finest to liven and sustain you.
And as that most relaxing countryside scene is taking place you notice that several yards to the right of you, upstream, is another person - surely a fellow reveller in this orgy of natural beauty.
But wait!
Closer inspection reveals that this person is not availing himself of the serenity of nature, in fact they are fouling the water! How disgusting you think to yourself, as you now look down at the hand that was in that same water moments ago.
Perhaps you shudder as you notice that there are actually many people on the riverbank - these good folks must surely be equally repulsed by this unnecessary and antisocial behaviour.
Except…
As you pay closer attention to the scene, it is almost stomach turning to see that pretty much everyone is soiling the river, the beautiful river, with the most abhorrent filth.
What’s even worse is that they seem to be gloating and luxuriating in their own putridity even as they generously share their slop with the river, and by extension everybody else.
The river is Communication. The river is Life.
With every new day a fresh privilege not offered to everyone - people die for all kinds of reasons, not all expectedly - we are faced with the clean water of opportunity, in the river of communication, or life.
How many people do you know who, on a daily basis, are sharing their whining, their ranting, their toxic relationship issues and more - all the while feeling better for the offloading with no concern for the crud they smear liberally over the lives of their victims?
A good few, I’ll bet - maybe friends, family, colleagues?
It’s probably safe to say that you know more of these river-despoilers, these noxious negatives than clear water positives.
Turn on the TV, listen to water cooler banter or head to the bar or coffee shop and there is crud aplenty being generously applied with not a second glance.
Are you making the river cleaner or are you filling it with unnecessary excrement?
In the end it’s a choice.
Of course we all have challenges in our lives, and often these situations are very serious. Boredom and self loathing are a poor reason to pee in the pool though.
It might be worth asking the question whether you appreciate someone else’s sludge being routinely dumped on you - I know I sure don’t.
As a matter of fact, listening to other people indulge themselves can be extraordinarily detrimental to ones health.
Are you depressed because your own burden is large? Or is it that you are involuntarily carrying around everyone else’s? I’ll let you mull that over…
So how do we clean the river?
You can’t begin with other peoples dreck, but perhaps saving the whole world from your own, or at least lessening the barrage of BS you inflict on other people might make their load a little lighter, and the river a little cleaner.
If enough people do it, the river water might even become drinkable again..
How would that taste feel?
Imagine you are finishing a nature walk, and you arrive at the banks of a beautiful fresh river, with sparkling water and the sounds and smells of life all around you.As you put your hand in the fresh water to wash your face, perhaps you can take a sip of natures finest to liven and sustain you.
And as that most relaxing countryside scene is taking place you notice that several yards to the right of you, upstream, is another person - surely a fellow reveller in this orgy of natural beauty.
But wait!
Closer inspection reveals that this person is not availing himself of the serenity of nature, in fact they are fouling the water! How disgusting you think to yourself, as you now look down at the hand that was in that same water moments ago.
Perhaps you shudder as you notice that there are actually many people on the riverbank - these good folks must surely be equally repulsed by this unnecessary and antisocial behaviour.
Except…
As you pay closer attention to the scene, it is almost stomach turning to see that pretty much everyone is soiling the river, the beautiful river, with the most abhorrent filth.
What’s even worse is that they seem to be gloating and luxuriating in their own putridity even as they generously share their slop with the river, and by extension everybody else.
The river is Communication. The river is Life.
With every new day a fresh privilege not offered to everyone - people die for all kinds of reasons, not all expectedly - we are faced with the clean water of opportunity, in the river of communication, or life.
How many people do you know who, on a daily basis, are sharing their whining, their ranting, their toxic relationship issues and more - all the while feeling better for the offloading with no concern for the crud they smear liberally over the lives of their victims?
A good few, I’ll bet - maybe friends, family, colleagues?
It’s probably safe to say that you know more of these river-despoilers, these noxious negatives than clear water positives.
Turn on the TV, listen to water cooler banter or head to the bar or coffee shop and there is crud aplenty being generously applied with not a second glance.
Are you making the river cleaner or are you filling it with unnecessary excrement?
In the end it’s a choice.
Of course we all have challenges in our lives, and often these situations are very serious. Boredom and self loathing are a poor reason to pee in the pool though.
It might be worth asking the question whether you appreciate someone else’s sludge being routinely dumped on you - I know I sure don’t.
As a matter of fact, listening to other people indulge themselves can be extraordinarily detrimental to ones health.
Are you depressed because your own burden is large? Or is it that you are involuntarily carrying around everyone else’s? I’ll let you mull that over…
So how do we clean the river?
You can’t begin with other peoples dreck, but perhaps saving the whole world from your own, or at least lessening the barrage of BS you inflict on other people might make their load a little lighter, and the river a little cleaner.
If enough people do it, the river water might even become drinkable again..
How would that taste feel?