What if

You did something different

There's the question of what if you did something different? Often it can come with the feeling of restlessness, of not being satisfied. Are you just looking for problems?

However, we're in a place in history where it's almost necessary to think differently, to do differently. So here's an example of that.

For a while, my family and I have been inspired by the Plogga (plogga.se) movement. Plogga is a Swedish portmanteau where it combines the phrases "Plocka skräp" (picking up trash) and "Jogga" (jogging). It's a great example of lowering the threshold of doing a good thing.

I experimented some months back where I walked my two sons to pre-school and brought with me an empty bag to collect trash in. So we walked the same trail each day, and every day I filled my bag. But each day, the point in the walk where the bag was filled up got later, that was encouraging. I also had to move further sideways off the trail to find the trash.

This story's critical point is that we got a more enjoyable walk every day, a less trashy walk. And everyone walking behind us also got a better experience. At least I hope so since it depends on being aware and actually seeing your walk.

To me, this is a straightforward example of leaving something better than you found it. It's a way of impacting, in a positive way, the life of oneself and others by picking up a piece of trash and throwing it away.

Beware; One side effect of looking for thrash is that once your eyes have been calibrated, you won't be able to not see it. It's unfortunately everywhere.

I don't know about you but for me walking is essential. It's a way of letting the processor in the mind do some lightweight work. Seeing trash lying around is a great way to interrupt the process. I start to think about Why. There's no logical and defensible reason for letting trash just be. I often try to be non-judgemental and think someone accidentally dropped it and didn't see it. Although, you find that can't be the case with the amount of trash available. It seems impossible.

So let's imagine, let's think what if everyone picked up the trash they found. This is not a novel concept, of course. Being trash conscious is just a way of thinking about it. I want to urge you to check out Plogga at plogga.se and Håll Sverige Rent at hsr.se and please just bring a bag on your next walk or run and make it more beautiful for the next person coming after you