Earth Week

In this time when more and more of us become aware of the impact that we have on our planet, I realize how selfish of a species we have been. There is a line in the movie "The Matrix" when one of the "Men in Black" says: "Humans are like a virus. They multiply and destroy everything around them" (or close to those words). That line always struck with me. How did we get to this point? Did just the ability to think, lead us to this behavior? Why do we think that we are not One with Nature but above it? All other aspects of our world seems to live in synergy, taking and giving back in a balanced act. We just keep on taking and do not think one second that we have to give back anything. And despite of a mountain of scientific evidence, still some think that most of us are just overreacting and that the planet will regulate itself. What if it does not. Do we really want to take the chance and find out when it is too late that we could and should have done something? The planet could get rid of what is destroying it altogether. We think that with our technological advances we can control our environment when Nature has shown us time and time again that we are powerless against it. We still cannot predict tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes...etc. We have warnings that we can read better now, but is that enough? We do not measure up against the formidable force that is Nature. So instead of trying to find ways to harness something that cannot be tamed, it seems more logical to me that we learn to live in harmony with it.
It is sad that we need Earth Day or Earth Week to have people think of the planet. Everyday should be Earth Day. With everything we do, we should think "What impact will my actions have on the world?". The problem is that we see ourselves as individuals. "What damage could little me do to the Big World?" We forget that there are now billions of little me thinking the same way and affecting our climate and the world we live in, like never before. So I have to start with the little me and hope that all other little me in the world will do their individual part. I cannot expect to make a big change on my own. It is the sum of all little changes that will make a difference.
A Native American proverb says: "We did not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children".
Would we like it if someone gave back to us something that they borrowed, after they broke it?