When we think of  “right behavior,” the first thing that probably comes to mind is a list of “thou shalt nots.”  But interestingly, we don’t see a lot of “don’t” lists in the New Age.  Once one embraces idealistic principles, morality is no longer troublesome. If we honestly believe that we are all part of One spirit, then it becomes unthinkable to harm another -- whether by lying, cheating, stealing.  (See Morality)

So the don’ts are easy.  It is far more difficult to rouse ourselves for the do’s. 

I don’t know how many times I’ve tossed an aluminum can toward the recycle bin in my house, missed, and the can landed in the trash instead.  Not wanting to get up to switch the can from trash to reclycling, I catch myself thinking, why bother, it’s just one stupid can.  How much good does recycling do anyway?  With something as astronomically huge as global warming breathing down our necks -- digging through the garbage for one seems ridiculously minor. But…

I usually go get the can anyway.  I work to remind myself again and again, if I want to help create a different world for my children, I can‘t be part of the problem, I have to be part of the solution.  I have to make different choices.  Every day.  Every time it comes up.  Every can.

“As individuals, there is both little and much we can do,” writes Fred Branfman in Imagine. “We cannot hope to reverse the course of evolution on our own.  But we can, each of us, transform ourselves.  We can stop our present way of life and begin instead, on our own, to live for future generations.  Our individual acts, by themselves, will change nothing.  But if enough follow, our cumulative actions will transform everything, in the only way that fundamental change has ever occurred:  person by person, life by life, dream by dream.”

We need to make the effort to do the right thing.  But this doesn’t mean we need to weigh our lives down with tortured obligation. Or saddle ourselves with guilt for every un-recycled can.  I try to find a balance between developing the sense of urgency necessary to change my habits and accepting that I am, after all, imperfectly human. 

The goal is not to suffer and sacrifice ourselves toward sainthood.  The goals should simply be to make steady progress toward right behavior that, over time, will improve our lives, and better our world.

Accept the Responsibilities of a Citizen

Vote.  Beyond that, encourage everyone you know to vote.  We all have friends or family who don’t vote, have never voted, are a little intimidated at the thought of registering.  Help them register, help them get to the polls on voting day.

Call, e-mail or write your elected representatives, make your views known to them.  Let them know you would like them to end the war in Iraq, prevent global warming, support universal health care, support equal rights for gays, support a woman’s right to choose and so forth.  This responsibility is so important that I’m going to repeat it:

Call, email or write your elected representatives, make your views known to them.

You’ve probably heard or read this advice so many times that you automatically skip past it, without any intention of doing it.  New Agers are a particularly “live and let live” bunch.  We don’t like to seem loud or intrusive, we don’t like to rattle cages.  And, like most Americans, we have become very cynical about politics, and sure that our representatives don’t care what we think anyway.

But whether our representatives care about our opinions or not is none of our business.  Our business is to do the right thing, and express our opinions, even when we have handy excuses not to do it.  We have a moral obligation to speak up for what is right.  In fact, this obligation is so important, it gets it own bullet point:

Speak Up for What is Right

We idealists, full of strong convictions and deep concern for the world, are nevertheless the most quiet group of people out there.  We typically avoid public argument.  We believe in tolerance and respect for differences.  And so, when we hear someone rant about why they don’t vote, or we get stuck in conversation with a coworker who is putting down gays or blaming illegal immigrants for their insecurities, we stand there quietly, our only goal to get away as soon as possible.

If life hands us the opportunity to speak up for truth in the face of ignorance, and we walk away because we feel the right thing to do is to be “respectful of differences,” then we are confused about what is right.   The right thing is always, always, to insist on the truth.  We don’t have to be confrontational or insulting, we don’t have to speak in a way that makes the other person wrong about their own feelings.  But we do have to speak.  

In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent on things that matter.”

I learned this most vividly from a wonderful book written by Robb Foreman Dew called The Family Heart.  A true-blue liberal, Dew raised two sons believing she had done everything “right” to ensure the health and safety of her children and promote their success in life.  Then she learned her oldest son was gay.  Suddenly, her child was not safe anymore, but the target of unreasonable fear and prejudice by the conservative right. 

Dew became haunted by the fact that she had blithely let slurs against gays go unchallenged in her own house.  These slurs had undoubtedly been absorbed by her child, and had undoubtedly at times made him feel he had no right to exist.  The book follows her courageous acceptance of her responsibility for not having spoken up against this vicious prejudice in the past, and her determination to fight the silence of well-meaning people that allows prejudice to survive.

The book changed my life.  I will never be silent again when I encounter ignorance or harmful opinion.   We must hold to the truth, and speak up for what is right.

Show up at council meetings, town hall meetings, school board meetings, voice your opinion. 

For more ideas and encouragement on being a citizen:

Good Citizen: http://www.goodcitizen.org/CitizenshipResources/CitizenshipResources.htm

Go Green!

Change to florescent bulbs, conserve, recycle, don’t spill toxins down your drain, ride a bike or walk instead of driving, buy a hybrid instead of a gas guzzler, support alternative energy.  There are all kinds of things you can do, most of them fairly simple, that will help you cause less harm to the planet.

For suggestions on how to live green:

Yahoo Green! : http://green.yahoo.com/living-green/

Tree Hugger: http://www.treehugger.com/gogreen.php

Living Green Expo: http://www.livinggreen.org/

Green Pages: http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages/

Inconvenient Truth list of 10 things: http://www.climatecrisis.net/pdf/10things.pdf

Or look for one of these books:

True Green, 100 Everyday Ways You Can Contribute to a Healthier Planet, by Jim McKay and Jenny Bonnin

Living Green:  A Practical Guide to Sustainability, by Greg Horn

The Green Book: The Everyday Guide to Saving the Planet One Simple Step at a Time by Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen

Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth by E Magazine

50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth: Completely New and Updated for the 21st Century by John Javna, Sophie Javna, and Jesse Javna

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Climate Trust :  http://www.climatetrust.org/

Carbon Counter:  http://www.carboncounter.org/

Take care of yourself

In any truly integral approach to self-development, one doesn’t just develop the spirit and the mind, one makes an effort to develop and care for the body as well.  After all, it is difficult to grow spiritually if you feel like crap, or you’re continually battling illness and disease.   

This important little “do” is usually fairly high on a New Agers list, as evidenced by the boom in yoga studios, alternative health clinics and holistic living magazines.  We’ve come far in learning how much some exercise and a few daily fruits and veggies can improve one’s feeling of well-being.

But taking care of yourself has a moral element as well.  If you get cancer or diabetes from bad lifestyle choices, you drive up the cost of health care for everyone.  The cost of health care is one of the biggest drains on our economy.  By making good health a personal priority, you help foster a culture of health and well-being for everyone.

Eat healthy, don’t smoke, get moving.   If you’re not in the habit yet, keep trying.  Help build a culture of valuing health.

For tips and inspiration on changing to a healthy lifestyle, visit:

Body & Soul Magazine: http://www.marthastewart.com/bodyandsoulmag/

Spirituality & Health: http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/

There are, of course, many many more ways to "do the right thing" and make a difference for yourself, your community, your environment, and your world.   If you'd like more ideas, see this fun e-book:

101 Ways to Change the World - http://www.togetherwecanchangetheworldpublishing.com/Resources/101WaysToChangetheWorld.pdf

Go to Good Works.