With 2019 coming to an end, we are one year closer to depleting our planet of its precious resources. Topics like climate change and renewable resources have entered debates and people are starting to become more aware of their carbon/environmental footprint.
People are recycling, making a conscious effort not to support certain businesses, and even buying cars all with the longevity of the planet in mind. People are slowly accepting that the earth is a finite resource and making decisions that will place as little impact on its ecosystem as possible.
I say that to say this. I feel like people are slowly starting to acknowledge their emotional footprint as well. Understanding how much of an impact their actions can have on others and future generations down the line.
I know that part of the reason I want to be a good and better person is because I don’t want to have a high emotional footprint. I have definitely done some bad things in my past; cheated, hooked up with people in relationships, lied, etc. But as an older man I can see how those actions have a trickle effect on people later in life, affecting the decisions they make, partners they choose, how they treat people, and even how they raise their kids.
I don’t want my legacy or lasting memory to be a negative one. I feel like the most extreme of these cases are of coarse death, whether accidental or intentional. The rationalization of it and the people it leaves behind. Or abuse, sexual, physical, emotional, etc. Acts like these effect people’s lives in ways that cause generational ripples in behavior.
I want to have a positive emotional footprint. I want to be a catalyst to be a better person, for the sake of doing the “right” thing. I want to pay it forward, not for karma, but because I can. It’s something I’ve had to work on as I grew up and matured. But I have a problem with giving when I can and not saving when I need to. I’m happy to help family and friends, even strangers in need when I have the means to do so. And I think that piggybacks on my last post about life being hard hard.
Here’s The Thing. I just want to bring the thought of an emotional footprint to your consciousness. The more aware people are of this, the more we can do to Live this life, and less Survive it.
The same way we are taking steps to save our planet, we can a apply to our lives (rough metaphor). Consider recycling people instead of throwing them away, talk to them and have mature emotional conversations that can salvage a relationship, as opposed to calling any friction in your life, toxic energy. Just like we are making the transition off of fossil fuels to renewable resources, hold yourself accountable to the truth, no white lies, and gain energy from a cleaner fuel, as opposed to bending the truth to “get by”.
My dad used to always tell me, “to leave things better than I found them.” From cleaning up after myself when I go places, to picking up others trash, it planted a seed for me to leave a positive Emotional Footprint.
The Relatables 