Boyle McCauley News

Since 1979 • April-May 2024 • Circulation 5000

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Sustainable Happiness

We hear the word “sustainable” a lot through our daily lives, from the economy to the environment to our lifestyles. What does it really mean?

For me, sustainability means living my life in such a fashion as to decrease any negative effects on the atmosphere around me. Sustainability is more than maintaining: it incorporates the ideal of nourishing my surroundings and making my life and those around me a better place to be. It sounds like a vague goal, I know, but it’s intended to be flexible.

I engage in the standard ideas of recycling and purchasing locally and reducing my carbon footprint. Those are important actions to engage in from an environmental standpoint. They decrease the pressure on our natural world, upon which our physical well-being depends.

A spiritual standpoint stretches the point further to include the people and energy around you and to be knowledgeable in how that affects you. We should care for our interior environment as much as we care for our exterior environment. They impact each other frequently throughout a day. The more that we are aware of these impacts, the easier it becomes to decide how to react.

We clearly see the effects our actions have on our climate. Between flooding and droughts, record temperatures, air quality warnings, and crop failures, I can barely find right-side up. With these chaotic surroundings, we can clearly see the inner life of society’s members suffering. Mental health is a much more prevalent issue than it has ever been. This isn’t a coincidence.

So, how does one live in a sustainable manner? We are all individuals with different histories and needs. Draw from that and investigate what values are deeply held. Strive to live your life accordingly. I value joy and peace, so I try to instill those characteristics in both interior and exterior environments. The more I bring to one the more the other will receive. This makes my life more enjoyable, and the more I enjoy it the better I will be at sustaining it. Keep happy and carry on.

Keri lives in Boyle Street where she lives a sustainably happy lifestyle.

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