Water You Doing?

Water is my friend. We should not use our friends. At least, we should not abuse them, take advantage of them or take them for granted. Water is OUR friend.

We use our friend, sadly, and we abuse him. If Water were a person with self-esteem and cognitive abilities he would certainly disown us.

Here are some interesting facts that manifest our unhealthy relationship with Water.

The average person uses 100 gallons of him everyday. The greatest use of our friend is the flushing of our toilets, followed by bathing, showering, cooking, brushing teeth etc. That hundred gallons does NOT include the huge amount of water it takes to raise the meat that we eat, build our homes, run the power plants, construct the roads, sustain commerce and...you get it. Yes, we need to have sanitation or we'll end up like every other failed culture and empire where people congregated in huge numbers on top of one another while they stroked their love for show, luxury and comfort.

As with any healthy relationship, I began giving thought to this years ago and have made significant changes in how I respect my friend. As a result, I have found how much more I enjoy listening to him, watching him and touching him. In fact, that 100 gallons? I don't even use a twentieth of that amount. Yes, I am an extreme minimalist but I love my life. I enjoy using a few tablespoons of water to brush my teeth and most of my dental care comes from the huge amount of nuts, apples and celery I eat.

I don't shower everyday yet I socialize with a large number of friends and acquaintances who will attest to my non-odor offending state. (Perhaps because I eat fruits and vegetables as 60-70% of my diet, am stress-free and spend most of my days-with the exception of sleeping-hiking and enjoying the outdoors).

When I shower ( if I am not cleaning up with creek water on a warm sunny day), I use less than two gallons of water and can wash my hair, scrub and rinse in less than 2 minutes. I would not think of using a dishwasher. It's fun becoming more and more cognizant of this relationship with Water and it changes my psyche and adds to my sense of well-being. NO, I am not making a difference. One person can undo what I try to accomplish in just the blink of an eye. BUT, I am going through life with a happy (almost giddy) heart and mind while I spend the most of my time doing what I love and enjoy, and, in the company of one of my best friends...Water!

Do you care to revisit your relationship with him? A good place to start might be to consider the 1,000,000,000 people who would love to have a relationship with him, if even only to the extent of my own.