The Yin and Yang Of Living In The 21st Century

An Old Year Is Departing

This is not just another Christmas. This is our last chance to eke a little joy out of what has been a pretty joyless year.

It’s been a year when men of good will were hard to find.

It’s been a year of war between the sexes.

It’s been a year of tragedies caused by religion and racism and misogyny.

It’s been a year of watching the earth rebel against the reckless onslaught of human greed.

It’s been a year when many of the good things that have happened were forced to take a backseat to all the bad.

It’s been a year when the powerful all around the world grabbed even more power at the expense of the rest of humanity.

It’s been a year when the scammers and charlatans and con men all around the world got to have their 15 minutes of fame.

But A New Year Is Coming

But on the bright side, I can’t imagine a single thinking person who doesn’t see that this year as some sort of lesson learned.

I can’t imagine a single caring person who doesn’t have some idea in their mind that what we have all lived through this year was perhaps a watershed, leading us to the path we should be following.

I can’t imagine a single visionary person who doesn’t realize that all the ideas for making the world a better, cleaner, safer and more unified place are not already out there, just waiting to be implemented and embraced by people of good will everywhere.

I see these ideas every day. Ideas to grow food more efficiently. Ideas on how to power the earth without sucking it dry. Ideas about how to teach people the skills they need going forward. Ideas to make gardens out of deserts. Ideas galore, all designed to help make the world a better place.

Right now, the world in in transition from the old model of industrialism to the new model of, I don’t even know what to call it. But what I do know is that this new model is the future and all those who are so intent on holding onto the past are going to start discovering, if they haven’t already, that their old ideas and outmoded methods will inevitably be replaced by the new.

Bob Dylan, although he would never admit it, knew this well before it became reality.

“The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is rapidly fading

And the first one now will later be last

For the times they are a'changin’ “

Bob Dylan, The Times They are A'Changin'

The progress of time cannot be slowed. Anachronistic thinking will most certainly be replaced by progressive thinking, despite the fact that there are a lot of old men out there clinging to the only way of doing things that they know.

Slowly but surely they will wake up or die off, it matters not. Because their world is disappearing.

That world had its time and place. That world was as powerful as it was reckless. Few, if any thought about the consequences of unbridled industrial growth, and it is that deliberate ignorance that has brought us to the dire straits through which we are sailing today.

But this will change. Because it has to.

It will change despite the greed and anachronistic thinking of old men.

It will change because it is the way of civilization to change and change for the better.

The ideas are out there. The visionaries are out there. The only thing that’s in short supply at the moment is the will of the people. And even that is on the rise.

And so, as this crazy year comes to a close, I would strongly encourage everyone to stop lamenting the past, stop disdaining the present and focus their thoughts on the future.

Because it’s coming, and we need to be ready for it.

Merry Christmas to all, and to the Industrial Age, a good night.

In addition to being a beBee Brand Ambassador, Jim Murray is a blogger, marketer and creative professional. His partner, Charlene Norman is marketing strategist and operations tactician.
Their collaboration, Bullet Proof Consulting, specializes in Brand Engineering: Helping companies achieve more effective branding, stronger reputation management, greater productivity, higher efficiencies, and ultimately, increased profits.
In short, Bullet Proof helps companies change their thinking for the better. Find out more at www.bulletproofconsulting.ca