Who would have guessed….?
I in 3 Aussie Men feels unloved and 70% of Australians believe that making more money will make them happier…….
The current ABC Poll puts the spotlight on everyday mums and dads and kids – and it’s not a pretty picture.
This week let me share with you some of their findings……
40% don’t have enough money to realistically get by.
31% struggle to make ends meet,
46% can’t afford a home.
20% spend more than they can afford on housing (this rises to 30% for those aged 40-50).
27% are worried about their job security.
56% have personal or family health issues.
36% are concerned by crime.
Over 70% of adults under 40 say their children will be worse off in the future.
And 57% of all respondents are dissatisfied with the way the country is progressing.
What on earth is going so terribly wrong?
Whatever happened to the Australia where the gap between the rich and poor was the difference between owning a Holden Commodore and a Holden Statesman?
70% of women believe that climate change is a most serious issue.
Another 20% believe it’s “quite serious”.
That’s 90% seriously worried about the way the climate is changing.
And yet only 5% of respondents said they’d be willing to spend $1000- $2000 a year if that would prevent it.
42% of people worry about what people think about them.
40% of those up to age 30 believe social media worsens their self-esteem.
30% prefer pets to people.
40% of city dwellers don’t know their neighbours by name.
53% of women feel unsafe walking home at night.
And only 35% of people say they are “100%” Aussie….Oi, Oi, Oi!
The answer may be hidden in the figures……
70% say that religion is utterly unimportant or only marginal in their life.
75% say they would be happier if they took more care of themselves.
80% feel they would be happier if they spent more time in nature.
The answer is surely staring us in the face,
As a nation we ought to be far more humanistic: caring, nurturing, supportive, kind, generous, loving, sincere and considerate.
We need to focus less on spending billions buying nuclear submarines, setting up our own space agency, or easing the tax burden on banks….
Million-dollar-a-year CEO’s camping out in warm doonas in a car park under media spotlights and cameras for the night doesn’t cut it.
Politicians handing out tens of millions of borrowed dollars for new footy fields and overseas research trips doesn’t cut it.
Nor does letting so many Australians suffer homelessness, abject poverty and minimal financial support in the name of ‘fiscal responsibility’ cut it.
As human beings living in community we must surely regain our sense of One-ness and become genuinely caring for our neighbours and those who are struggling across this immense wide, brown, drought-ridden land.
We achieve this, most easily, by reclaiming our spirituality.
All first nation peoples across the world honour their spirituality.
We may do so as genuine followers of great Teachers such as Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira, Lao Tse, Mahatma Gandhi, Nanak, Paul, Sivananda, Thomas Aquinas, Rumi, John Spong, Mother Theresa, Sri Aurobindo, White Eagle, Silver Birch….
Or we may simply go within….as many great Teachers have told us.
When we go deeply within our Inner World we best heal ourselves, our attitudes and our behaviour….thus healing our Outer World.
This is the only realistic answer.
Individually you and I are unable to almost change anything of significance.
But if we all turned within and healed ourselves…..wow! what a change we’d create!
Working together we’d overthrow the greed, the selfishness, the hate and ignorance.
This is the pure Path of Spirituality.
Here we will find Truth, Love and Wisdom.
These things can never be bought with money, power or prestige.
They come from the Heart.
Many blessings as you come from yours this week!
Namaste.
Les