Karma Yoga: Influencing Positive Change in Communities

Litter, animal suffering, plastic pollution; these are a few things that could change more positively in our world. All it takes is a quick search or a ‘like’ on facebook pages to see how naive and how much we turn a blind eye to these points. We then moan about it on social media.

How many of us actually stand up to make a difference?

FEW TO NONE.

Everyone moans about litter, animals and birds swallowing plastic (one small example of a big problem in the world), but what do we do about it? Nothing. I really do feel connected to this Earth and its beauty, more so than ever, but we are destroying it.

The task is too big.

It’s not that easy to make a change.

Sound familiar? This is what the majority say. I believe it is easy to make that change my friends.

Change starts with us.

You can start any time, anywhere.

It may be a little change, but once you find your inner voice and confidence, it will snowball. You have it in yourself, we all do, we just have to dig deep and have a belief we can make a difference.

Back home in Middlesborough, I go jogging along my local beck. It’s a place of beauty, somewhere where my and I friends grew up, making dens, playing tigs, swinging off tarzees. My Father taught me to play football, we ran through fields of high grass and we went sledging when it snowed. To my friends, I and to many others, Acklam Bluebell Beck and Foxes Woods is a place of beauty, nostalgia and a great place to jog, for kids to play and to walk. However,

The litter problem got out of control.

The council wouldn’t pay to get it removed.

Consequently, some locals set up a group. ‘Friends of the bluebell beck’. They do monthly events, not only just litter picking, but walks describing the forests and the becks different flowers and trees along with its history: did you know it’s actually a flood defence for houses?

My Dad volunteered and as I moaned about the state of the beck with litter, I decided that I can too make a difference. So, my friend Gary and I went along and helped the Ladies and Gentlemen of Bluebell Beck (Most OAP’s) and we have started to clean up the Beck. It already looks a million times better!

Also, because I’m ‘Young and good at the facebook and the internet’,I’ve set up their facebook page to help them get more support.

Their motto

‘Friends of Bluebell Beck – caring for a community asset’

Isn’t this inspiring? A little change, can have the Butterfly Effect. All we need to do is start a change in ourselves, come together as a community and we can have a bigger effect. It comes from within ourselves!

I think this is an important message.