What Will Your Bench Say?

I loved “Sorry, I’ve just got to vandalize this bench” in the Denver Post this week! The message is powerful, and one I try to communicate to my daughter regularly. The author, Kate Morrison, saw two benches on the corner of University and 1^st in Cherry Creek -- “This is what you use,” written on a large bench, and “This is what you need,” written on a small bench next to it. She found the metaphor relevant to many areas of life, and so wanted to vandalize the benches with the following possible parallel quotes:

When will we get the message? How much do we really need? Is it really making us happier? What are we giving up in order to get all this money? All this stuff? All these experiences?

We aren’t healthier! We just keep eating more, sitting in front of the TV more, and then, as a result, keeping the diet centers and doctors in business .

We aren’t happier! We just eat more, abuse ourselves more, and do more therapy!

We don’t do our relationships any better! We just do more divorce, more therapy (a theme here), see one another less, talk with one another less, and have less sense of community.

Clearly the values of “He who dies with the most toys wins” doesn’t get us anywhere worth getting. So, what are we going to do about it? What values do get us something worth having? What values and lifestyles make us happier? Help us to have relationships that work better and grow more? Help our children to grow up happy? What do we need to focus on to be more physically and emotionally healthy? What values will help to reduce crime and poverty and child abuse, and the other ills in our society?

If we don’t think about this, we won’t do anything differently. And if we don’t do anything differently, these societal problems will only increase. We can say, “That doesn’t apply to me.” Or “That doesn’t affect me.” But it really does! We are all connected to one another. We all do affect one another. If I take the first step, it can positively affect someone else. And then someone else. And then again, someone else. Watch the Pay It Forward video clip to see how one person can make a real difference. And then realize that the person who made the difference in that movie was a little kid. Can’t we adults do at least that much? I think so. Who’s with me??

http://payitforward.warnerbros.com/Pay_It_Forward/