how i changed the world today

i farm, and that makes me have more time to see and be immersed in the beauty of a natural setting.  i am pretty sure this makes me a more reflective person.  i am also a keen observer of how nature works and plays, and i never let a chance, or a moment pass, not to be grateful to The Force, for the beauty that surrounds me at La Huerta.  time spent in this heaven of a place has made me realize, too, that there are things that i just cannot change, only influence.

 

my experience today, tho, with the rural women from my town Baao, who i brought to naga city for a pilgrimage to the region's patroness, has made me suspect that i have the power to change the world and today, i saw tangible evidence of it.

sometime ago, when i resettled back here, i would always gripe, grumble and moan about the huge amount of trash that people leave after an event, especially a religious event, at the church yard.  holy week would see a hill, maybe even a mountain of trash by the church, after people, who went to church to pray, disrespect, insult and abuse the very place of their worship, by leaving behind their trash.

back then i could only bemoan and lament over the stupidity, or to put it more lightly, the ignorance of those that do the act.  somehow, over time, i made a pact with the self, to effect change by being an example of how one should deal with the trash issue after an event at the church.  i would shamelessly call the attention of the person near me, young or old, stranger or not, who i see improperly throw trash, to pick it up again and put it in their pockets and bring it back home with them.  i know i have become an irritant to many.  but i couldn't care less.  i was more concerned about my environment than their opinions of me.  some people would just even ignore me.  my well-meaning friends would tell me, i could not do anything about it.  but i absolutely disagree with them.  i know i could do something about it, and i would.

for a while, it seemed futile, the last time i was in church for an event, there was still the pile of trash left by the church-going citizens.  of course the pile does not stay there for long, as a janitor would clean up the church yard afterwards.  but i pursued with my dogged determination and continued to tell people who i see improperly throw trash, to pick it up again and put it in their pockets and bring it back home with them.  a little thing, but one that made me extraordinarily happy every time i did it and every time a piece of trash is picked up by the thrower.

so when i brought my RIC women to naga city, i was a bit afraid that i might have to tell one or a few of them, to pick up trash when i see them improperly throw it, especially when one of the women offered us candies inside the jeepney we were riding.  but i was pleasantly surprised when i observed my seatmate(i couldn't even remember her name, but i know she is from Lourdes, a mountain barangay here in baao), after she took the candy, she put the candy wrapper inside her purse.  how i wanted to hug her and tell her how her simple act had made me so happy.  But i had to hold back, and smiled, and gloated secretly.

maybe i'm really not the one that started that, and it doesn't matter.  the fact is, that i have been trying to see change in that one thing, and i saw that today.


every person, every small act of kindness towards nature.  every small act of mindfulness towards our environment.  every time one little "good" thing happens, . . it increases the love and hope in the world, and changes the world.

today, my world was changed by the very habit that i had started.  if i can do it, so can you. and so can he. and so can she.  little by little. . .and that is how we change the world.