Shifting Cultural Paradigms is Imperative
Self-empowerment with its ultimate goal of achieving self-love is key to making the cultural
shifts needed to address and reverse global warming. We can’t delay.
More than 50 years have passed since I first heard of global warming from the consumer-
protection and environmentalist activist, Ralph Nader, as he met with a group of student leaders
at the University of San Diego. He told us about the threat global warming posed. A half century
later the collective response required to end the use of fossil fuels has been so inadequate, and
our beloved planet, Earth, continues to heat up.
What is it about our culture that prevents quicker sustained action to end and reverse climate
change? One dominant cultural obstacle we have to move beyond is the belief in success and
failure. These two concepts are often the source of needless confusions, pain, and suffering at a
personal level. At a collective level, the impulse to be seen as successful lies behind the
economic forces driving global warming that is threatening human existence on our planet.
In the success and failure paradigm, self-worth is measured by the accumulation of goods and
wealth with an implicit comparison of oneself to others. Our inner, innate self-worth that goes
hand in hand with self-love is often not valued, nor encouraged. This leads us to validate
ourselves in external ways, like some individuals within corporate structures who seek to
maximize profits in ways that harm the environment, cause untold human suffering and put us
and future generations at risk.
Success defined in these ways is an illusion. We come to love the idea of success rather than
loving ourselves. The secrets of self-empowerment are designed to increase your self-love, to get
you to appreciate your innate brilliance and inner beauty. And, as your personal power with its
enhanced sense of self-worth grows, you will radiate these qualities into your communities in
positive ways. Imagine such a community, in which self-love and the caring for others become
the dominant cultural expression.
Go for it! Dare to be you! Dare to love yourself! Help save the planet!
Check out Beyond Success and Failure to learn more about the positive outcomes that come
from this important paradigm shift as you move forward on your journey of self-empowerment.