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One Makes the Difference

Inspiring actions that change our world—

By Julia Butterfly Hill.

A hands-on guide full of advice on how to promote change and improve the health of the planet.

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Pointing Fingers (Excerpt)

We have become so good at pinpointing what is wrong in the world, and yet these problems are reflections of our actions and behaviors. With so much of our cultural and natural world being destroyed, mutilated, and oppressed, everywhere we look we can catalog the issues that urgently need to be addressed before it's too late. But every time we point out the damage being done, there are still three fingers pointing right back at us. When we point at what is wrong, we must take responsibility and try to embody and enact what is right. For me, these digits pointing in our own direction stand for power, responsibility, and love in our daily life, community life, and global life.

The first finger represents power. We are all powerful beyond our wildest imaginations. We have been conditioned, numbed, and manipulated over time into giving our power away to name brands, corporations, and governmental officials, just for starters. It's time we take the power back!

We have the power to change the world. Everything we do and say does change the world. Even our inactions have impact. If I had walked away from the destruction of the redwoods without trying to stop it, my inactions would have had as much adverse impact as my decision to live in a threatened ancient redwood tree. In every moment of every day we make choices, and every choice has an impact, positive or negative. We are moving either toward the problem or toward the solution.

The second finger stands for responsibility. Because we are beings of tremendous power and energy, we have the responsibility to choose carefully, compassionately, courageously, and consciously. We have become addicted to, and transfixed by, our right and freedom to choose. Yet, all the while, we accept less and less of the responsibility for the impact of our decisions and how those decisions ripple out and affect the planet, its people, and the future. Every time we do not take responsibility for our choices, some other person or place is paying the price for it - and that price is high. Compound interest is not just an economic reality; it is inherent in the equation of life.

The third finger symbolizes love. Why love? Why not! What else would we want to do with our lives than offer them in loving joyous service to the Earth and all its inhabitants? With love, hatred and anger transform into fierce compassion; struggles and challenges become opportunities for growth and strength. Responsibility transforms from drudgery and necessary evil into a newfound happiness in our ability to respond. The greatest, most positive, and longest-lasting change will always come from a shift in consciousness in the heart.

As we point out all that is wrong in the world and see the three fingers - power, responsibility, and love - pointing back, we realize they lie in the palms of our own hands. Our ability to change the world lies in our hands, minds, hearts, bodies, and spirits - committed in action. It's not only that we can make a difference, it's that we do make the difference. The kind of change we make is up to us. Each and every one of us has the power to heal or to hurt, to be the hero or the destroyer - with every moment, with every breath of every day.