While I do want you to read this article, I must first ask you to look outside -- what do you see? Take it all in. This is Earth. This is our home.
Open your eyes, open your heart, and open your soul to the allure of this planet Earth. Everywhere you turn, Mother Nature is calling you. The trees in all their soaring glory beckon to you with their carved branches, each limb using the wind to stretch every fiber towards your being. The way the sun’s rays travel millions of miles just to peek through the openings of green canopies and paint dancing shadows on the ground is absolutely euphoric. Don’t just listen to the melodious compositions of our fine feathered-fellows; feel the harmonies weave through your inner ear and into your soul. Listen -- Mother Nature is calling you.
I wasn’t always listening. In fact, when Mother Nature called, I swiftly declined her. I didn’t appreciate the beauty that fills every crevice of matter. I wasn’t fascinated by Earth’s timelessness; I undervalued the millions of years of evolution that molded the creatures that roam and inhabit the land today. I was too wrapped up in life’s small things to slow down and truly stop and smell the roses. I was too busy with my phone to notice the layers of soft red petals that envelop the center of the rose. I was too wrapped up in schoolwork to take a break and smell the floral essences that rise up from the petals. Life had me trapped in a perpetual daze, a hazy fog so thick that I didn’t notice the roses were wilting and dying.
I don’t need to go on a rant about how pollution is killing our planet and all of the majestic creatures that live within it. I don’t need to type out 1,000 words on global warming and its detrimental effects on this lovely Earth. We already know this. But what I do need to do is describe all of the awe-inspiring moments on Earth that I want to see present for many years to come.
I want every day to begin and end with the sun on the horizon, the beginnings of those warm, familiar rays stretching across the sky to say good morning, and those very same rays pushing their way through the wispy clouds just to say good night, and making it look like Heaven’s angels were descending to Earth. I want to hear the rustle of leaves and feel an exciting anticipation course over my body, preparing myself for the wonderful feeling of a gentle breeze brushing softly past my face. I want to wake up early and see God’s creatures still awake and in their element before the rest of the world awakens. I want to see the ripples that grow from a tiny particle hitting the surface of a blue pond. I want to spend my life appreciating the beauty Mother Nature herself has gifted us with, even though we certainly don’t deserve it.
If you want these experiences, too, I suggest you pull yourself out of life’s haze, smell the roses, and answer the call for help that our world so desperately puts out to us every day. Do it before it’s too late.
