What’s it Gonna Take?
What’s it gonna take for this family to stop bringing home plastic grocery bags?
This was the question running through my mind as I grabbed a bag full of plastic bags to bring to the recycle bin at the food store. It was a real question and not one of blame. How to instill an unshakable habit of using our recyclable bags.
Only 1% of single use plastic bags are actually recycled. Sad fact.
I reflected on how this bag of bags got here in my garage. My husband running to the store for just a few items. My daughter buying something at Target. Friends and family showing up with things in plastic bags. And me?
I was feeling kind of proud of myself.
The puffed up, blind kind of “aren’t I something” proud. Thinking how I’ve pretty much mastered bringing my own bags everything. Then I recalled that time in November when I blew my commitment to no plastic bags at the Macy’s shoe counter.
I apparently couldn’t walk out of Macy’s with a stack of three shoe and boot boxes.
Ok, but still, not bad. Til I remembered shopping for SisterHood’s Holiday gift drive. Yup. I bought hundreds of toys (due to generous donations) and 95% of them came home in plastic bags. All donations came in plastic bags. And all family bags (for 250 kids) travelled to SisterHood in big trash bags. I’ve got to rethink that one next December.
What’s it gonna take to run a gift drive without plastic bags?
Later in the day, I enjoyed my ice tea at Barnes and Noble while I worked in the cafe. I recycled my single use plastic cup and had to throw out the straw. What’s it gonna take to not use plastic cups when I’m out? And how will I never, ever use a plastic straw again? (I’m thinking of the saddest photo showing how these straws interact with my favorite ocean creatures).
This question had taken on a life of its own. It wasn't rhetorical and was waiting for action.
So, I packed 3 reusable straws in my purse and a plastic Starbucks cup in my car. I reinforced that commitment when I pulled out my straw at lunch over the weekend. (The trick is to remember to take it home again!) New habits created when a simple question prompts action.
What’s it gonna take to not overspend at the food store?
I wasn’t reaching for that question anymore, but it was reaching for me. Inside Wegmans, I paused and considered my normal approach. I intend to get a few items and end up throwing twice that in my cart. This leaves me reaching for my credit card. What’s it gonna take? I checked my cash and determined I wouldn’t spend more than I had.
Shopping for food became a whole new adventure. And it included math.
If you know me, you know math is not my strong suit. Still, I travelled around making wise decisions and figured I was good. I was good. Just 18 cents short. Lucky for me I had a hidden $10 bill in my wallet or something was going back.
What’s it gonna take to send all of the Love O kids to school next year?
I was talking with Ahaji, founder of We the Village which supports everything for Love Orphanage in Haiti. We were strategizing about the Be a Difference Maker education fund to send all the kids to school next year. Exploring some options, I wondered about the monthly commitment.
“$21 a month sends one kid to school. How many kids are covered that way?”
“12 kids aren’t funded.” I was taken aback. Clearly I had let that ball drop given that I was a Difference Maker committed to helping Love O kids get funded. The conversation shifted from labor intensive fundraising to a simpler task.
Let’s find 12 people willing to make a $21 monthly donation.
What’s it gonna take? Not much apparently. Perhaps we just tell people about it and see where that very simple action takes us. (If you want to transform a life through education, please check out my Making a Difference page to get the whole story.)
What’s it gonna take?
It’s only been 5 days since that question arose. I’ll spare you the rest of the situations it prompted me to notice. Which led to a tiny action. Which opens the potential for change within me.
Why am I WholeHeartedly engaging the question?
Because it showed up. I trust Life’s wise invitations when they catch my attention. And because I truly want to be a beneficial contributor to the wellbeing of all of us and this lovely planet.
What’s it gonna take to finish this story? “The End.”
Thanks for listening. Hope this question opens that place within you where it is easy to see options and take action. Tiny or big.
Peace be with you and with all. No exceptions.
HeartWarming
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Inventors, entrepreneurs, social change agents, artists, and scientists view the art of questioning as essential to discovery. Whether to create something original or solve a dilemma, questions invite the mind to open. Often leading creative thinkers to effective solutions, new paradigms, or original ideas. With self awareness, you can often trace an invention, change in habit, or adoption of an entirely new perspective back to a single question. Let your questions breathe. They do their best work when you don’t rush to answer them!
