We haven’t paid an electric bill in over two years and are proud of it! Why? Because we’ve had a credit on our Western Massachusetts Electric Company account since April of 2010 thanks to the energy production of our photovoltaic panels and our careful efforts to minimize our energy usage. By producing more energy than we use, something many told us we could not do, we not only avoid contributing to the growing demand for energy, we also help WMECO meet the energy needs of others. Our monthly statement, showing growing credit, is the kind of tangible feedback I discuss with my clients because it encourages desired behaviors – the continued efforts to minimize energy usage. Everyone wins when the sun shines and we turn off unnecessary lights and power strips, hang heavy jeans and towels in the sun to dry, and ensure the oven, burners, and other appliances aren’t running hotter and longer than necessary. At least you would think everyone would win. Truth be told, that growing credit on our bill provides no financial incentive because WMECO doesn’t ever have to send us a check, no matter how big the number becomes, no matter how many foggy, wintery days worth of consumption our credit would cover, no matter how much of our neighbor’s electricity we are providing while WMECO is billing. Pride and conscience will continue to motivate us because they always have. However, while WMECO and the rest of the industry spends lots of time and money dreaming up new energy reduction programs, it is pretty ironic that they are actually encouraging us to increase our consumption!
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone watching politicians, whether during the primary debates or the State of the Union, could use their smart phones like a clicker to signal skepticism with each uttered “fact.” If enough people “clicked,” the debate, speech, or press conference would be paused while a non-partisan fact checker intervened to either confirm the claim or tell us the truth. Initially, the endless delays would drive everyone, including the politicians, nuts. But don’t you think they would all learn to speak more carefully and accurately?
The stock market is swinging wildly and so a journalist asks me if I, or people I know, are freaking out and canceling plans. Why not? Let’s whip the frenzy to even greater heights! If everyone reads about people canceling plans like theirs, than they can freak out and cancel as well! Everyone can freak. We can spread the panic, put more people out of work, and damage more businesses. And for what reason? Because someone else freaked. That’s good enough reason, right?
I gagged when I heard someone on NPR saying that the new food plate pyramid introduced this week would be so good for busy moms. Who was that guy? How did he get so stuck in the past?This new image is so simple, it can help ANYONE dish up food wisely. Even men and children!I think kids will use it to demand smarter meals and whip their parents into shape. And it certainly should make people think twice about restaurant meals, especially those restaurants where the only vegetables are hidden in salad bowls under dressing, meat, cheese, and eggs. I love this image! But it’s going to be pretty tough to cut up a porterhouse steak and stack it in that little corner!
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“Claims made by scientists, in contrast to those made by movie critics or theologians, can be separated from the scientists who make them. It isn’t important to know who Issac Newton was. He discovered that force is equal to mass times acceleration. He was an antisocial, crazy person who wanted to burn down his parents’ house. But force is still equal to mass times acceleration.” Dr. Kary Mullis, winner of the Nobel Prize for chemistry.
When my younger daughter was two, there was no rain in Minnesota. The grass was crunchy. Leaves fell prematurely. When it finally rained, she screamed in horror. But that isn’t the point of my story. Our neighbors were good irrigators. They had always watered their lawns diligently and did their best, even after the drought began and within the limits of the watering restrictions, to keep their yards beautiful. We simply couldn’t justify using a precious resource like fresh water just for green grass under any conditions. When the drought began, our lawn turned brown and crunchy. Eventually, our neighbors’ lawns turned brown too.
We all make mistakes. Little ones, big ones. And for many, the tendency is to replay them in our heads, especially when we should be sleeping. While this may be quite natural, it is destructive. In many cases, we haven’t even done anything wrong. We just wish we had done something differently. So we relive it and suffer again and again. You can’t undo what is done. You are only human. But you can learn from it. What went wrong? What about your attitude, motivation, attention, skill, or knowledge caused you to do what you wish you had not done? Get some help sorting this out if you need to. Figure out what you can learn from the situation so that next time will be better.
On a dreary day in December when I wasn’t feeling particularly upbeat, I set out to write a holiday letter recapping the year. By the time I had finished recording the highlights and remembering many wonderful occasions and people, I felt much better and more excited about the year ahead. You don’t have to send such a letter to anyone, but it is still worth writing. It is easy to get caught up in the rush, forget the high points, dwell on the low points, and lose track of the bigger picture. If you haven’t done it already, take the time now or in the next few days to reflect on your professional and personal accomplishments and activities in 2009. Uncover and smile about the high points. Don’t compare your accomplishments to anyone else. Feel good about the progress you made, the fun you had, the relationships you built, the people you helped, the lessons you learned, and more. Then picture yourself doing this again a year from now. What do you want to be writing about then when you look back at the highlights of 2010?