Mother’s Day is here and I would like to challenge the way we see our mothers. I dare say moms are the ultimate sustainability experts. Too many mothers are forced to play the role of both mother and father. Men are also forced to play those roles too. However, for this article, I choose to discuss the traditional roles mothers play in the home. A mother’s love sustains us and they work tirelessly to ensure we live long productive lives. They instill in us our beliefs of innovation, recycling, eliminating waste, risk mitigation, charity and civic duty. Moms do these things because they love us and take their jobs of being moms very seriously. Now, more than ever, we must use the lessons taught by our mothers not to just live happily but in order to survive.
The government has made it clear that we must not rely on it for guidance on health or safety. The vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the defunding of the EPA shows health is not a primary concern for our government. We have to use the lessons taught by our mothers and grandmothers on the best way to take care of ourselves. We will have to rely more on the remedies passed from our ancestors to cure common ailments.
Our moms are great at recycling and making the most out of what we have. Think of all the clothes and toys we have used throughout the years. Moms are also master chemist in the kitchen and can magically make chicken stretch for a week. Many of our mothers and grandmothers can perform miracles with a needle and thread. I can remember my mom buying some fabric to make me a cool shirt or a awesome jumpsuit (yes I had a jumpsuit).
Risk mitigation is also something moms are considered to be masters. They have a knack of identifying hazards ahead. Think of the times your mom kept you from a party that turned out dangerous or identified a car that was not safe enough for you to buy. My mother knew how to keep me from saying or doing something that would cost me later. I am still working on this discipline and my wife says I have not quite mastered it yet.
My mother made me realize that I was valuable and I had to share this value with those in our community. If your mother or grandmother, aunt or cousins have never shared this with you, I choose to do so now. You have value and can make a positive contribution to society. You have a civic duty to vote and ensure you educate yourself and your children on what is possible and needed to live long, productive and sustainable lives. Join me in wishing all of our great mothers a Happy Mother’s Day!!!
If these things inspire you, and you want to share your ideas, please feel free to contact me thomsustainableconsulting@gmail.com or you can follow me on Twitter @tcsheff. #Resist #Wordsactionchange
