Growing up in South Boston definitely had a great influence on my life. As I entered my teenage years, I began to identify with my surroundings more and more. I found myself wearing certain clothes, listening to certain music, and even the vocabulary I communicated with was not my own. Rather, it was something that was impressed upon me from my peers.

This society that I lived in made a great impact on even my outlook on life. The people I associated with did not have any aspiration to attend college when they graduated High School, so I found going to college less attractive. Even though my parents pushed me toward higher learning, they were not as effective as the influence of my peers. The reason for that is simple. I spent more time with my peers and I held them in high regard. Therefore, I valued their opinions more when it came to the things that mattered most to me.

When I was a sophomore in High School, my life took a sharp turn. My Father landed a good paying job and within no time, my parents started looking for a house in the upper middle class part of town. Sure enough, before I started my Junior year we had settled into a new home on the opposite side of town and the people and surroundings felt very strange to me.

When I started school that fall, the first thing I noticed was that everyone wore different clothes and listened to different music. I thought to myself, “Great. Now I am surrounded by the people I once made fun of.” I went further and believed that there was no way I would ever dress like them or listen to the same music.

After about 6 months of attending this new school and living in this new neighborhood, I found myself once again wearing new clothes and listening to different music. It was almost like this society which surrounded me was really the deciding factor in those things I would desire. It is kind of like if you are with ten people who all enjoy poetry, you begin to find an interest in it as well.

As an adult, I learned the reason for this. The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that all of our actions are the result of either our genetics or the environment that surrounds us. We have no control over our genetics, and as children, we have very little control over our environment. As we age, however, there is one factor where we can make a choice: which society will we place ourselves in and allow to influence us?

Whether we like it or not, the society will create in us certain desires for those things that are valued by the society in general. So if you are a scientist and want to be influenced by great scientific thinkers, then the best place to go is a place where there are others with the same ambitions in life. Likewise, if you aspire to be a musician, you will probably choose not to associate with scientists but with other musicians.

If we recognize the power of this choice, then we can use it to help us achieve our goals in life. If you are struggling to reach your goals, take a look around you. Do others value that same goal? If not, where can you find others with similar aspirations? If you can do that, you will be immeasurably closer to achieving your dreams. In the long run, making a conscious choice about your environment is the first and most important step towards changing yourself.

Joshua St.Hilaire grew up in Massachusetts and went into the US Air Force at the age of 19. He works as a IT Security Consultant in Washington DC where he currently resides. He has been studying Kabbalah with Bnei Baruch for over 2 years.
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Do you have your own definition of a Green Lifestyle? Are renewable or sustainable energy, climate change and environmental pollution on your short list? Are you considering a shift to a greener lifestyle and making changes in your home and your thinking to bring you into more harmony with the environment?

It is time to take action on your thoughts. Today is the best day to begin to invest in a green lifestyle, eco-friendly products and you?

Whether you agree or disagree with everything you hear and read about the greening of America, you can definitely agree upon the fact that a lot of time, money and effort is being dedicated to this endeavor.

What is a Green Lifestyle?

            Everyone has their own definition of the greening of America and what living a green lifestyle should look like. And, sometimes those definitions are vastly different and at opposite ends of the spectrum.

My rather simple definition of a Green America based on an ancient Feng Shui principle is: people who live in, support and replenish the environment and an environment that supports people through providing a life giving atmosphere and resources in order that they both prosper.

            The second definition of a green life could be living the Feng Shui lifestyle. The principles of the original Form School of Feng Shui are all about creating your home and life to be in complete harmony with your surrounding environment. Feng Shui is about uncluttering and using positive energy in your surroundings so you and your environment can enjoy abundance.

If you think about it, Planet Earth some 3000 years ago when Feng Shui got its start was in perfect balance. To keep it somewhat uncomplicated, Earth experienced day and night, heat and cold, wet and dry over a yearly cycle. It had oceans and land masses, mountains and valleys, barren land and crop supporting land.

The ancient Chinese civilization learned to work with their environment and to manage the resources so they could live in harmony with their environment. They altered their environment only by cultivating the land and building shelter to survive. When they learned how to position their homes in harmony with the energy forms provided by the environment such as trees, hills, rivers and maximum warmth from the sun in the South they began to thrive.

Feng Shui Today

Since most people would not turn the clock back 3000 years to recapture that pristine environment, there are a number of things you can do today to live in better harmony with the environment.

Rather than think about the environment from a global perspective which is out of reach for most, look around your home to find those things within your reach that you can control and do something about today. Unclutter, recycle and use eco-friendly products indoors and out. Care for and nurture your home and Mother Earth as you would care for yourself and your family.

Preserve, Replenish and Unclutter

            In Feng Shui, one of the best ways to improve your personal environment is to make sure positive energy enters your home. That means you need to unclutter the outside too including the walkway leading up to entrance of your home.

When landscaping and gardening, remember to use eco-friendly products that are good for the plants, the birds and the earth. Then, focus on preservation and replenishment care in the planning process. If you have large healthy mature trees, find ways to protect and care for them as they provide you protection from the sun and heat plus help maintain the planet’s healthy atmosphere.

If plants are overgrown, prune them. If they are unhealthy, even dead remove them immediately because they are sending negative unhealthy energy into your home. Plants like this should always be promptly removed and replaced to provide a healthy energy environment surrounding your home. Both you and the environment benefit.

In a home case study, positive energy was not reaching the front door because plantings were old and overgrown causing the walkway to be dark. Plus the large old tree on the left was lifting the sidewalk more than six inches in at least two places making it unsafe and exposing the home owners and guest to injury and litigation.

            Saving the tree was their number one priority. The Feng Shui solution was to create a wide S curve walkway to accommodate the roots of the tree and to encourage positive energy to meander into the house and linger spreading abundance throughout. The design not only opened up the walkway so it wasn’t so dark, it also made it safer and more welcoming to guests and for new energy to enter the home.

The final step was to unclutter the area by removing decaying old plants and properly pruning the others to encourage new growth for the plants as well as the homeowners. A few colorful new plantings were added to further energize the welcoming energy. To see the before and after pictures click here: http://www.energy-by-design.com/ArticlePhotos.html .

There are easily thousands of other things you can do and products you can buy that lend themselves to a greener lifestyle. The Feng Shui suggestions are about removing and controlling the clutter in your personal environment which provides you better energy. And, recycling and using more eco-friendly products provides the environment more positive energy rather than having to deal with more waste.

By following some of these simple suggestions you’ve improved your quality of life and that of the environment. Plus, you are preserving and or replenishing the environment when caring for its plants and trees – living a Green lifestyle today that was cool 3000 years ago.

© Pat Heydlauff, all rights reserved 2010

About the Author:
Pat Heydlauff, president of Energy Design, uses Feng Shui design principles to eliminate chaos and stress at home and within oneself. More than a Feng Shui expert, Pat is a consultant and speaker who helps remove clutter and negativity while encouraging personal growth, improved relationships and prosperity. Her new book, “Feng Shui: So Easy a Child Can Do It,” shows how to achieve a better tomorrow. For information on her consulting, speaking and artwork, and sign up to receive her free newsletter, visit: www.Energy-by-Design.com or call: 561-799-3443.

Please Note... All links within articles are placed by their author-owners and not by this blog.Products with in those links may or may not be the best in the world.If it sounds too good to be true it could be a scam.Articles are posted for their info,ideas and or entertainment value only.

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