The Amazon Rain Forest Needs Your Self Worth

The Amazon rain forest is taking quite a beating these days, and although its total mass is 1.4 billion acres, the needs of man have been quite overpowering lately. The forest is shared by nine nations in South America, but Brazil occupies a good 60% of this, and this is where the trouble has started. No, there is nothing wrong with the Brazilians, its just that the demands of human kind that need to be met, are taking their toll on one of earth's greatest natural displays of power.

The forest itself boasts some of the most elusive and bizarre creatures in the world, and it was this kind of dangerous beauty that attracted Teddy Roosevelt, and damn nearly killed him. Consider the fact that Roosevelt dealt with so much grief throughout his life, and handled his hardships with physical discipline, always pushing himself beyond what most men could ever do. Now take into consideration, that not to long into his journey through the Amazon, it brought him to the brink of suicide. Ponder over the fact that a land so beautiful, and yet so naturally ruthless could make the toughest man in the world, question his own mortality. As a side note, there is a wonderful book called river of doubt, that is about Roosevelt's quest to explore the unexplored.

I use Roosevelt as an example, because there is both a sad truth and irony to all of this. During the times of Teddy's exploration, the world was much smaller, and there was never the risk of reaping too much. In fact, as I had mentioned before, it was the forest itself that did all of the reaping. Times have changed, and man seems to have a very dangerous sense of confidence.

What is sacred anymore? well, our health. Perhaps you have heard of the Acai berry (pronounced ah-sigh-EE), and its amazing health benefits. I must admit, I myself take Acai, but I was shocked to learn that the very thing that is so healthy for us, is not at all healthy for the forest. Acai is such a global sensation that everyone wants to take it, and everyone wants to sell it. The demand for this is so high, that sections of the forest are being leveled for the sake of planting Acai. That's not exactly a bad thing, except for the fact that the Acai plant is all that is being introduced to large areas of land, that once boasted a plethora of botanical properties.
You can just imagine how this affects the other wildlife.

You could almost look at the Acai sensation as the spread of a large restaraunt franchise, such as McDonalds. Something amazing starts domsetically, the realization spreads, and then it spreads globally. The downfall is that this isn't just man being enterprising, its man being enterprising at the exploitation of mother nature. They even have Acai drive throughs in Brazil now.

Then there's the increasing demand for soy bean, which is shoving back the borders of the forest, and there's also the fact that 70% of what was forest, is being used to pasture livestock.

I personally think that something needs to be done, but I don't see the harm in keeping the medium. All of these factors are currently working against each other, but they are also justified for the need of their existance. I refuse to be extreme and only look at any issue from one perspective, since this kind of idiot-ology is what gets us into this kind of mess in the first place. Its just like what's going on with the economies of the world today. It is bad because it is perceived as bad, and maybe it is, but when you adopt this kind of outlook, it just comes to a stop. There is never room for mental growth, and that is tragic, because the world is endless with possibilites. Going back to Acai, if you told the world that Aspirin was the fountain of youth, they wouldn't use their judgement. We would instead run out of Aspirin.

I know that there are needs that require answers, but I think a real lesson here is for mankind to not take the most obvious answer. Everyone is fighting over that answer of popularity, and it becomes so selfish, that the answer is gone in a heart beat. This always requires imagination, but the individual needs to adapt to flexing that large muscle under the thick skull. If you can learn to take pride in taking responsibility for yourself, then problems are instantly cut in half. Being a non conformist literally means to not conform with non conformists. Life was designed this way, but we seem to fight it. I truly believe that you should heal yourself, and bring yourself happiness, before you can do this for your fellow man. They have this same option.

In other words, fear is the determining factor. I wrote this article, pointing out something that will make most people sick to their stomachs. No one wants to hear negative news, but its an addiction, and its also addictive because everyone knows that we shouldn't even have to report these things.

Live your life for you. Be happy. Its really simple. Its easier than you might think. I am very happy, even though I continue to face hardships, but those are the experiences that make us grow. When I write about or hear about a pain in the face of the world, I am emotionless. Learning to do this gives you the clarity and maturity that you need to problem solve. Problem solving in your own life spreads life wildfire. This brings happiness, and its contageous, and that is a beautiful thing. Let me define it like this. You put your focus where you want it to be, not where the masses are addicted to it being. Mother Theresa was once asked to join a march protesting war. Her answer was fantastic. She said "when you have a march for peace, let me know and I'll be their". In other words, practice what you preach, and don't aid what is not desired by anyone. You don't want war? you don't want environmental issues? then live the life where these things don't exist, within yourself. Imagine if everyone did this. Imagine the results. Don't feed what you don't want. You can call me crazy, but what you may not realize is that there are people all around the world who practice this, and they very, very happy here on this beautiful planet. I am one.
tumble it!