To many, making MOGO ("most good") choices -- choices that do the most good & least harm for ourselves, other people, animals, and the earth -- can initially seem like a lot of “giving up”
something: certain foods and clothes, transportation options, stuff,
personal products -- even convenience and pleasure. Living a MOGO life isn’t about deprivation or sacrifice.
It is about making choices that do the most good and least harm, which can sometimes mean making a different choice that involves going without something we used to do or have. And sometimes, we become overly-focused on getting rid of destructive products and choices and on “giving up” more harmful habits.
In living a healthy, balanced, conscientious life, it’s also important to ADD positive things to our lives — things that bring us balance and joy and meaning. Whether that means spending more time in nature, taking time to pursue a hobby, connecting more with friends and loved ones, pursuing a spiritual practice, volunteering for worthy causes, or sharing what we’ve learned with others, focusing on adding good to our lives is just as important a part of MOGO than ridding ourselves of harmful habits.
Lately, my husband and I have been more focused on adding “good” to our lives – to doing more that’s positive, healthy, and restorative, and less that’s stressful, lacking in meaning, and not aligned with our values. We've taken an indoor bouldering class; gone to more talks and events and supported more causes related to social change issues; started exercising and cooking together; joined up with friends more regularly for hikes and lunches. We're eating healthier by replacing more processed foods with whole foods. And we're both pursuing new (and old) interests, from guitar and Aikido (for me) and mandolin and birding meet-ups (for him).
One of our big spring "adds" is to start riding our bikes regularly, for our health and the health of the environment (and our pocketbooks). Another is to expand our garden (as much as we can in a small space), so that we're growing even more of our own food.
And in the past when we wanted to add something new and nourishing to our lives, but were having trouble getting started, we did what we call the 30/10 strategy: We'd choose one positive thing that we wanted to add to our lives and do it every day for 30 days for at least 10 minutes a day. It worked!
Of course, there are a lot of ways to add something new and MOGO to your life, so consider what healthy, sustainable, restorative, positive, life-affirming MOGO action you could take. You could try the 30 days/10 minutes experiment, or something else that better resonates with you.
If you’re considering taking on a significant life change and need some major support (in addition to the friends and family around you), you might consider using a tool like First 30 Days or an app like Everest. There are plenty of these kinds of tools out there to help you reach your goals.
The important thing is to find ways to regularly add something good, meaningful, and lasting to your life!
~ Marsha
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