The 3 R's
--
The Basis of Education
by Marie T. Russell
 Many of us have grown up with the
concept of the 3 R's. We have been told that
the 3R's were the basis or the most important
part of education. And we were always told
that the three R's were Reading, Writing, and
Arithmetic. Now wait a minute. Only one of
those starts with an "R" which got me thinking
that maybe the 3 R's were something completely
different.
Now in the environmentally conscious
movement, there is a different set of 3 R's
being touted: Reduce (or Refuse), Reuse,
Recycle. So, I decided to take a look and see if
perhaps these "new" 3 R's might be the ones that
should be the basis of our education and if they
applied to other things than "recycling
garbage".
First I decided to look at the concept of
Reduce/Refuse, Reuse, and Recycle as it applies
to the environment before I looked at how it
could apply to our lives, in general.
The first is Refuse (or reduce). The idea
there is to refuse to use or purchase anything
that is harmful to the environment. Refuse to
buy things that are overpackaged, refuse to buy
products that are toxic -- you get the idea. OK,
so that's clear enough. We reduce the amount of
harm we do to the environment. We buy things in
bulk, not singly packaged items, reducing the
amount of packaging wasted. We use less of those
things which we know are harmful to the
environment -- we use chemical products only in
the extreme situations where a natural product
won't do the same job; we buy canned goods only
when it is impossible to get the fresh product;
we use paper towels only when a cloth or rag
wouldn't work; etc.
The next concept is Reuse. When we buy
things in glass jars, we then use those jars to
store things such as leftovers, or even goods
that we bought in larger size packaging, or odds
and ends like nails or rubber bands. We reuse
our grocery bags as garbage bags. We turn that
old t-shirt that is falling apart into a
cleaning rag. We use newspapers to wash windows
(they work great) or to line the bird cage, etc.
And then the last concept: recycling. When
we haven't been able to refuse or reuse, then we
recycle. Many of us are fortunate enough to have
the recycling services come right to our door.
Once a week, we get to put out by the side of
the road a bin of paper products, and another
bin of recyclable glass, plastic, cans. While
that is great, the goal needs be to have no
recycling at all since all the material has been
taken care of in the first two steps.
OK, so now, how can that concept apply to
our lives in general?
We are told that everything starts with a
thought, so let's see if we can apply the 3 Rs
to the thinking process.
Reduce (or refuse) could definitely be
applied to "negative" thoughts or thoughts that
are not leading to the reality we'd like to
experience. For example, maybe you feel you're
overweight, and would like to be slimmer (&
healthier). So, what's the usual thought process?
"I look like a slob. Nobody will love me
anymore. I'm ugly." That thought process
applies to a lot of other things than being
overweight! A teenager with pimples will have
the same thought, or someone who thinks their
clothes aren't up to par, or someone who's
having chemotherapy and losing their hair, or
maybe you've just worked out and your sweaty and
feel ragged, or maybe you just don't love
yourself! I'm sure if you reflect on it, you can
come up with situations where your thought
process is: "I look like a slob. Nobody will
love me anymore. I'm ugly." -- or something
similar.
OK, so the first R is reduce (or refuse)
-- reduce the amount of times you have that
thought. One way to do that is to find things to
do that will focus our attention elsewhere. In
other words get busy. There's a saying about an
idle mind being the devil's playground... well this
is true in the sense that if you busy your mind
with more fruitful or positive thoughts or
actions, then you've reduced or refused the
initial thought.
We can only think one thought at a time,
so, we can reduce or refuse the thought that is
unsupportive of our well-being by "changing our
mind" and thinking about something else. It
helps to stop focusing on our own "little" self
and start focusing on "doing good". Do some
volunteer work, or help a friend or co-worker in
need, or help yourself by doing things you've
been putting off (cleaning out your fridge,
cleaning out that storage area, raking the
leaves, etc.). While you are focusing on helping
someone (whether it's you or someone else), your
mind will be busy and won't be able to think of
two things at once.
Now how can the 2nd R, reuse,
apply to our thoughts? When we reuse, we take
something and put it to another purpose. So if
our thought is the one mentioned above (or
something similar), we use it for another
purpose. We can use that thought as a starting
point or as motivation to different behavior.
If my thought is that "no one will love me
anymore", then I can use that thought to spur me
to action. If we remove the negative part of
that statement, we are left with "one will love
me more". OK, so then we change our actions
towards one that support love -- for ourselves and
for others. If our thought is I'm ugly, then we
take action so that we will start feeling
beautiful. Thus we use those negative thoughts
as the impetus to make change in our lives --
rather than just end the thought process with
that particular thought, we reuse that thought
as a starting point for change in our thoughts
and in our behavior. We use that thought as the
thought that broke the camel's back -- the camel
of resistance to change, of being stuck in a
rut. We use that thought as the one that propels
us "to the other side" -- the side of looking
for solutions and creating change, rather than
staying in the "poor me" syndrome.
The last R has to do with recycling. When
a product is recycled, it is broken down or
destroyed and something new is made from that
raw material -- something completely different
that has a use and purpose in our lives. For
example, out of plastic bottles they make park
benches, or other useful things. So, what can we
create out of our broken down thoughts and
beliefs? And how do we break down our thoughts?
A process that most of us are familiar with, in
one way or another, is affirmations. An
affirmation is simply taking a negative thought
and using it to create something new.
So if your thought is "nobody will love
me", we take that and create a new thought:
"Each day, I am loved more and more." Notice
that the thought only contains a positive
thought, it is in the present, and that it
doesn't implicate anyone else in the process. It
just says I am loved, more and more, each day.
So the first place that thought will take
effect, while we repeat it in our mind, is with
ourselves. It doesn't imply or necessitate that
"John Doe" love me more -- only that I will be
loved, more and more, each day. That leaves an
open door -- the love can come from yourself,
from your cat, from a stray dog, from a
co-worker, from someone in line at the store,
from your mate, from your boss, from your child,
from someone you've never met, from a guardian
angel, from the Creator... So many places for the
solution to come from when we don't restrict it.
Another thought mentioned above, "I'm a
slob, I'm ugly". Now some people would opt to
take that thought and replace it with I'm
beautiful, except that that thought may not even
be workable or believable for them. The idea
with recycling is to create something that works
or is useful. So, perhaps the thought to create
out of that one is "Everyday I am more and more
pleased with myself." That thought is workable,
and gives room for growth. It doesn't
necessitate an instant transformation -- it
allows for changes to take place, in our
appearance, in our behavior, and in our
expectations.
If the thought you have is that you'll
never be a success (whether it be in your
career, relationship, fitness level, personal
growth, etc.) then you take that thought and
break it down. If you remove the negative
"never" you end up with "I'll be a success". Now
while that is a fine thought, it is not usable
in the sense that it deals with the future, not
the present. "I'll be a success" implies
"tomorrow", later, some other time -- tomorrow,
which never comes. So again we need to recycle
that thought and create out of it something
different and useful. "Each day brings success
in things big and small." This thought also
helps reframe our vision of success. We often
think of success only at the finish line -- the 50
lbs. of weight loss, the promotion, the wedding
bells, the million dollars, etc. But success is
in the minutiae -- in the little things.
Success is not having that second portion
of food (if you're trying to lose weight),
success is doing today's task to the best of
your ability, success is being loving and kind
to the person who is "taxing your patience",
success is doing five minutes of exercise rather
than none at all... Success is in seeing the small
blessings that are part of each day of our lives
-- the sun shining, the rainbow after the storm,
the love and support after a catastrophe
(whether personal or global), the birds singing,
the child smiling at you, you catching the bus
"just in time", you coasting up to the gas
station just a few seconds short of running out
of gas, etc. etc.
"Each day brings success in things big and
small" opens the door for us to see the success
that is already in our lives, be grateful for
it, and thus attract more of the same. Since we
attract what we focus on, then applying the 3 Rs
(refuse/reduce, reuse, recycle) to our thought
processes will create a whole new reality for
us.
The same principle applies to our words,
and our actions. We can refuse or reduce the
amount of negative, demeaning, critical, angry
words that come out of our mouth; we can also
refuse or reduce the amount of negative,
demeaning, critical, and angry actions we take.
If we don't do the first step (reduce or refuse)
then we can reuse those words and actions by
making the "error" be the impetus for change. Or
we can recycle that action by taking that action
and turning it into a positive constructive one.
Sometimes, out of our "mistakes" come our
greatest successes.
In the case of a traumatic event, we can
refuse to go into fear and panic, or we can
reuse the fear energy and channel it into doing
something constructive, helping others,
exercising, starting a new project, etc., or we
can recycle the whole event by making something
new out of it... Out of hatred create love, out
of fear create trust, out of discord create
harmony...
We can change our lives and the world
around us. Let's start applying the three Rs --
refuse, reuse, recycle -- to everything in our
life (thoughts, words, and actions) and see
where it leads us. We can be like the phoenix
rising out of the flames -- out of the flames of
our discontent with ourselves and with our
world, we can rise, renewed with a way to
manifest our vision in our day to day lives --
each and everyday, it is easier and easier to be
happy, healthy, and wise.
 Recommended book:
Transforming Your Dragons: How to Turn Fear Patterns into Personal Power
by José Stevens.
Info/Order
book
 About The Author
Marie
T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also
produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from
1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and
well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own
inner source of joy and creativity.
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