Improve In Five Minutes

We'll be getting back to microgreens soon.  It's almost time for fall gardening - might be time and I'm just too lazy or behind on the to-do list.  Lest you believe I garden obsessively...
I've done lots of things I regret and haven't done just as many that would have changed life for the better.  I'm not getting all organic and yoga about it.  Everybody has these regrets.

And I'm not a garden pusher.

I try to keep my first world problems in perspective with some volunteer work.  Yesterday we spent a few hours sorting food at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.  It didn't make me feel better.  It's important and we do it regularly, but my everyday thorn-in-the-side problems didn't go away.

Turns out, I'm not alone in this experience.  The phenomenon has been studied and there is a quick fix to help you put up with your neighbours:...
Take a hike.  Sit under a tree for lunch.

I'm not making this up.  Getting out into nature takes your focus out of your head and into the environmnet around you.  

You don't have to be a gardener.  I'm not talking CRAZY.  The Earth would halt if too many comfortable Americans went for a hike.    Just go outside and sit on a bench.

Going outside for a few minutes to absorb nature takes your focus off your material possessions.  You will realize you don't need as much as you thought you did.  You can just sit outside for free and enjoy the sunshine, birds, cricket songs...whatever.

Don't call me granola girl...this has been proven.  One of my favorite bloggers reviewed it too:  http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2010/03/how-to-quickly-and-easily-become-a-better-per/
How to quickly become a better person

First world problems can seem overwhelming.  We get rolled up so tightly in our interactions with family and co-workers that office politics can appear to be reality.  They are not.  If you don't answer that email or defend yourself against malicious accusations, you won't die from them.  Lindsay Lohan and Sean Penn appear unstable until you compare them to your co-workers.  Imagine a camera crew filming how angry your cousin has made you for taking all the family heirlooms.  Then thank your lucky stars that you aren't famous.  People would be taking your stuff all the time.  You would have nothing left.

Except the world.