It's interesting that two people can look at the same event and see it in totally different ways. For two footie fans watching the same game but following different teams, the same series of events can be either an occasion for happiness or despair.
Similarly with reducing carbon emissions. On the one hand, we could view the changes to our lifestyle that we will have to make to reduce our carbon emissions as being about sacrifice, giving things up, regression or inconvenience. And, when you put it like that, it's hardly surprising that people are reluctant to embrace a carbon-light lifestyle!
If you tell people that they will have to give up the plasma TVs that they enjoy watching, that they can't take the overseas holidays that they spend all year hanging out for, or that they have to give up the 4WD that is their pride and joy, they're just going to go "Nuh".
But if you tell people that they have the opportunity to have less stress, work less, be more healthy, reconnect with their communities and support local jobs, living a carbon-light lifestyle becomes a whole different proposition!
Cycling or walking to work, for example, means less time spent in traffic jams, less money spent on running a car, the possibility of exercising by walking to work and being to spend more time with your family. This might mean moving house or changing jobs, but look at the benefits that are available.
So it's worth remembering that focusing on the positives isn't about blind optimism - it's about seeing what's already there if we only choose to look at it in a certain way!
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