To Survive or Thrive// Sustain or Regenerate ?

To thrive or sustain

The influx of interest among the educated erudite pedestrians over sustainability and sustainable models has allowed for an interesting discussion on what we actually think is sustainable. What does it inherently mean to have something sustainable ?

To sustain means to keep its original structure intact and able to work across an indeterminate amount of time without being compromised and degraded. Sustaining something operates under the main crux of maintaining a sense of balance and order within a system. This model can be questioned in a multitude of ways. Why would someone want to sustain a current model when the model can be transcended and improved? Although stagnation and decay are not admirable traits, it is important to question whether preserving a structure to survive is even applicable or helpful. Key word: survive.

It’s easy to think that surviving is something that we should all strive for. This blanket term is divorced from the idea of self improvement or re-invigoration. Just trying to survive can mean that it takes a great amount of suffering involved. “But hey you are surviving right?” If we can break through a survival model and focus more on a thriving model then we can use survival as a tool to reinvent itself.

Sustainable Model:
" We must maintain this certain thing in order to keep it going at it's original intention and integrity. The model must work the same way like it was when it was put into motion."

Sustainability has become much of a junk word and heavily politicized among the environmental movements and other ideologies. Comparable like "spirituality" and "mindfulness" in a way. Co-opting words for consumerist causes. All these movements beg the question on whether or not the current in model in place can sustain itself. Well, that certainly is a good question, but why is it being asked in the first place? To CHANGE things.

A problem that arises however is that people insert their own biased perspectives that distort all different possibilities in improving a system that seems unsustainable. It is getting too lost in an answer and outcome and allowing for someone to simply say that they have the "right" answer. This very much mirrors the "savior complex". The idea that someone has the magical solution or divine rite of passage for changing an unsustainable model when the model actually might not be that unsustainable in the first place.

With all this in mind, the intention of questioning models you see as unsustainable is one of the first steps in attempting to improve it. It allows for the mind to discover and listen to what the belly of the beast is grumbling about. All in all, people project their own issues on to things that they see as unsustainable trying to fix an outside problem when in reality it needs to be addressed from within.

We can survive on certain things alone, but does that mean that we are inherently making things better or more efficient for our future selves? Improvement requires the ability to be consciously aware of what we are doing and how we can do it better for everyone. Sometimes we use what we got with what we need and the current knowledge that we have. Necessity is the mother of invention and also the step mother of ill intentions.

So when we understand the Sustainable and Survival model, we can start to see how it could fall apart and become short sighted from the myriad of possibilities involving innovation. What happens we focus more on thriving and less on surviving? Thriving implies that there is some progressive move towards a hazy goal or method of improving what had been done in the past. Thriving means expanding to the limits of potential. Challenging all various crooked paradigms and out dated modalities to produce fresh innovative results. When one is able to have the means of stepping out of just "surviving", they are able to venture into the realm of the unknown. A realm of potential chaos and uncertainty. A realm of creativity!

It is the natural skepticism that arises from curiosity and awareness that can allow for someone to see and ultimately UNDERSTAND how things are working and not working at the same time. Making connections and not isolating to possible scapegoats allows the flexibility to experiment and not pigeonhole into a dogmatic ideology. To think in terms of costs and benefits and not Solutions is a way to act out a Thriving Model.

Malleable 

Thriving has a deep hidden narrative. It is quite similar to a Hero Story or an Ascension Story where the main character (you) is aiming towards the maximum potential or (greatest good). The orientation towards new possibilities with twists and turns and that alike. Thriving is driven from intention and the act of acting out the best potential with what knows and doesn't know at the time. It is challenging the sustainable model with skepticism and curiosity. Deviating from the norm will allow for progress in various degrees of potential.

Creativity! It takes creativity to break the limited binds of just surviving. Of course this all within the context. We may have found ourselves in various points in our lived where we feel like we are stagnating or not really going anywhere. Well, how did you get out it? It first took the awareness and integrity to admit to yourself that something simply felt out of line or out of balance. Maybe your routine was starting to dull you in a mechanical psychosis that nipped nuance and spontaneity at the bud. Maybe the challenges from your life had been dulled down and everything just felt like a chore. Was there a catalyst for change in these situations? Was there an AHA! Moment or was there a gradual awakening the unfruitful nature of what was? Was it an extrinsic moment or more of a intrinsic moment that allowed you to see your own self perceived dullness? The questions can be endless, but the point to bring is up is that there was some spark of creativity that allowed for you to see the naked nature of what simply "was not working for you" at those points in time.

Also, to surrender to what is. Accepting that totality in return for sometimes nothing, but growth.

To regenerate

What does it mean to regenerate?

When we see the pitfalls, errors or failings of our trials and journeys, we can use those as seeds for a new landscape of understanding. Much like composting, regeneration focuses on taking the dead matter or non-matter for that matter and using it as fuel for new opportunities and challenges to arises. It takes the conscious effort of burning of the dead wood to allow for a fresh new tree of perspective. This in an important realization. In order to effectively and efficiently "move forward", one must see how they can renew old concepts and transform them into a new "thriving" modality. 

When you can see the interconnections between everything, you can open yourself up to a new sense of wonder and then any action will be an act of thriving.  The cause and effect of cause and effect. A cyclical nature centered around the conservation and efficient use and reuse of energy. 

Like the 3 R's. 
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. 

More importantly we can get more out of the Reduce part than the others. This one tends to get overlooked. It must feel good to have that feeling of moral uplift when tossing that plastic bottle, but did you really need it in the first place? Were there any more "environmentally conscious" options? Turning it back inward and questioning yourself on why you are buying alleged recyclable materials, will allow one to conserve and thrive considering it would be more cost effective and less distracting or taxing in the long run. This conscious use of energy can allow for someone to REGENERATE old habits that were subconsciously or unconsciously driven. 

What do I actually need? What will I need in the next week? The next 6 months? The next 6 years? 
What is necessary? What is necessary for your own personal GROWTH?

DG