When faced with the loss of a loved one, one often goes through five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (
Burns, 2020). Many have gone through those stages of grief when looking at our old friend, Earth (
Edwards, 2023). We deny the facts, get angry at what has happened, hang unto any hope of a fix, fall into despair, and eventually accept where we are at. In the end, that is all anyone can do. Whatever happens, we must accept it.
Prof Jem Bendell popularly leads a movement to quietly accept that we are headed for collapse (
Bendell, 2020,
Bendell, 2023,
Bendell, 2023a,
Bendell, 2023b). He promotes neither denial nor total despair. Instead, he encourages people to recognize the situation is bad (
Bendell, 2022) and, accepting that, to work together to reach the best results.
All this depends on what we are called to accept. If we are going back to the Wild West, perhaps with the benefit of continued telecommunications, maybe we could accept it. Being a cowboy with a cellphone can’t be all that bad. But what are 300 million cowboys in America going to eat if they do not have a ready source of fertilizer to grow their food? If we need to go back to an 1800’s era agriculture with 8 times the population, we might face starvation. Can we accept that?
Photo by Pixabay on
Pexels.com
We can seek the serenity to accept the things we cannot change. But those who ask for that serenity also often ask for the wisdom to know what they can change, and the courage to change what they can. Perhaps this post can help you have more wisdom into what you can change.
What do you want to tell future generations? Do you want to tell them that, when everything was collapsing, you had the serenity to accept the things you could not change? That’s good. But wouldn’t they also be interested to know if you sought the wisdom to know what you could change, and sought the courage to then change the things you could? If, for instance, promoting a reduction in family size, especially in rich countries, is a significant step forward, shouldn’t we have the courage to promote it? --
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