We waste our mental energies
Worrying disproportionately of things
That are of little consequence;
Or which cannot be undone by our doing.

We waste our time
Trying to become someone other than we are
Thinking that our happiness lies elsewhere
And must be sought, or conquered…or strived for.

We waste our lives
Thinking that our personal stories matter
Unaware that with a name and an identity
Our existence is a life created by a surrogate self.

We waste our relationships
Expecting from them a life
We’re unable to give ourselves.
Seeking fulfilment without putting our love to work.

We waste our education
By stopping the process of learning
Thinking of it as a badge of accomplishment
And not as a living aspect that needs to be nurtured.

We waste our passions
By corrupting their purpose
Relegating the highest in us
To deliver to us our lowest, most basic goals.

We waste our well of emotions
By treating it like a dump
For our petty fears, anxieties and our hatred
We’re no longer able to taste their sweetness.

We squander away our spirit
Because we mistake its silence for its absence
Unable to understand how simple stillness
Can convey us from confusion to clarity.

Is it any surprise therefore,
That our land, our trees, our waters, our air
Our communities, our society, our culture
Also lie wasted?