Planet Earth. What is hidden beneath those two words? Well, obviously 7 billions of human beings. But what's often missing is the element of various life forms other than ourselves. Animals, insects, flowers or trees; from the giant elephant to the smallest cellular protozoans, all of these components merge into a unique puzzle called Life.
Look Around You
Humans conquered this bunch of rock, water and vegetation called planet thanks to one fundamental advantage they hold against the other beings - intelligence. There's a vital fact to realize though. We might be the best nature has offered so far, but forces of the nature must not be neglected.
What can man do against a hurricane? Would you be able to survive if there was another cold age? Go outside and try to challenge Sahara, fight your way through raining forests in Amazonia or you could just try to stop a tornado from ripping your home apart. Do you get what I mean? It is often ignored that we are still very dependent on our surroundings, regardless of our skill to adapt it.
Other Beings than Us
Have you ever met a lion, the king of animals? Have you witnessed his fierce look, tried how sharp his teeth are, how strong and fast he is? I doubt that you did, it's a tall story that you'd be reading this if you have. It's not just about the lion. There are lots of natural hunters who wouldn't have any problem in defeating human in a face to face combat, such as tiger, cheetah, panther, leopard and the list could go on.
We shouldn't take a lot of things for granted. When you go for a walk to the forest and you accidently step on ten ants, you'd probably consider it as no big deal. The fact is that you just "murdered" ten very organized and skillful beings who minded their own business. Make no mistake, this is no crazy and money targeted ecologic propaganda, it's about respect.
Respect Doesn't Hurt
Humans are the most evolved, hence they're the most valuable. No doubt about it, it's a common sense to choose one human over ten ants. But consider this: isn't there some sort of association between disregarding nature and other humans? I'll give you a hand - of course it is.
It starts with little things, like always. You walk across a field and a piece of paper fall from your pocket. You let it go, thinking that it's small and the field is big. That's true. On the other hand, the nature being a giant waste bin capable of magically vaporizing all of the less attractive by-products of our culture is not true at all.
Treat nature with respect. It will be here forever while you will be gone in a century or so. Is it so hard to carefully pick the lady-bug and let it fly out of the window rather than simply smash it? Or to take the remainings of your lunch that would end in the toilet anyway and use them to feed the roaming cat you know is wandering around? These actions take mere minutes.
New Perspective
How can people hit it off when they tend to forget where did they come from? We are all products of nature. I'm not talking any spiritual crap, it's a simple fact. Throwing out plastic bottles, which will decompose for 500,000 years, is like you would kick your mother in the ass with a comment "Hey, it doesn't matter, you're big anyway!".
Next time you'll think you owe the world or you are never wrong, imagine yourself staying naked against a hungry cheetah. Respecting other life forms is the first step towards respecting each other. I'm not a fan of vegetarianism, just kill only when you really have to.
Planet Earth is not only ours. We have been given the opportunity to govern it, but certain measures are in place in case we would misuse this responsibility. There are only several things we can't influence, Power of Nature is among them. Realizing what's beyond our control is the key to open our minds and recognizing what we can influence.
