madameblogalot

My dad called to tell me there is an upcoming Get Motivated seminar in our area. I had never heard of this before. So I checked out the website. Though it’s touted as business seminar, it seems to be a day of motivating speakers, learning how to get the best out of yourself and your daily interactions. It looks to be an eventful day filled with inspiring talks by Colin Powell, Sarah Palin, Lou Holtz, Zig Zigler and others. It sounds like they will really put on a show, utilizing pyrotechnics, live music and special effects. They say this is a seminar for everyone!

I just came across a video blurb for Raj Patel’s newest book The Value of Nothing. I have never read or heard anything put out by Patel, but I found the ideas presented in this new book to be very thought provoking.

Patel strives to bring out the ideas of over-consumption, something that I do believe most of us in modern America struggle with. I like how he juxtaposes the value we have placed on certain items, such as factories vs. forests and “value meals” vs. vegetables and fruits. Just from watching the video, I would be interested in the reading through the book to see what ideas he is really presenting. I don’t want to go to an extreme, say, where the trees or animals have more value than a human life, but I do think it’s time the pendulum gets balanced.

I think that it is time to re-evaluate where we all are in our lives, in history and what kind of legacy we want to leave those coming behind us. I don’t think that all of what has brought us here is evil, but I do think it’s important to see how we got where we are and how we can improve on areas that need improvement. I think that is part of learning. I tell my daughter that is exactly why we have to study history.

I know we will not be on this earth forever. I do believe it too will pass away. But as long as we are here I believe we are called to be the best stewards of it that we can be. I am going to check out the chance win a copy of this new book. It should at least provide some very interesting reading and some really good things to think about.