One of the topics you will see I return to over and over is choice. To me it is one of the underpinnings of how much of our happiness we experience.

Today I woke up and unlike over 3 billion people on the revolving ball called Earth I did not have to look for drinkable water. That’s right about 50% of humans have to work, search and even trek for water each and every day. But in my home, perhaps yours as well, and this is incredibly difficult to believe, I urinated in a pristine white bowl full of crystalline pure drinkable water today and can say with certainty I will do it again tomorrow. Each and every day I give thanks for drinkable water throughout my home.

In Vancouver water provides so much for us. Over 90% of the energy in my home is from hydro electric power. In fact I even celebrate the white porcelain vessel in the bathroom as a possible source of fresh, clean and drinkable water. I do not use any harsh chemicals nor those easy-to-use in the bowl or tank cleaners. I do not use these products because should the need ever arise I will not have tainted drinkable water. I do this not out of fear but out of respect for the importance of water in my life. Without drinkable water I will perish and quickly. It is the same reason I drink water directly from the tap and not out of bottles. I do not believe that water or air should ever become “commodities” and so I practice my principles buy consuming most of my water directly from the tap (no filtering at all) wherever I am. This is my choice. Please do not ever mistake my choice for advice to you. You are more than capable of making your own choices.

The other thing I do is that I clean my toilet by hand. You see water is required to sustain life and so I try to celebrate it each day. In the ocean, in the rain, in the sink or even in the toilet it is all part and parcel of the one self-preserving eco-system in which I am lucky enough to live.  I find when I get up close and personal with anything (or anyone for that matter) that my perspective changes. When I am only standing over or sitting upon the “throne” then I am one step removed from my appreciation of the truth of it. And the truth is that it is full of fresh, clean, drinkable water – a commodity that is in ever shorter supply because we taint it and then do not choose to properly clean up after ourselves. Each aspect of our daily lives can be a celebration. It does not require miracles, the mundane provides just as much opportunity for appreciation.

So the next time you walk in to your front door remember to celebrate the fact that not only is there drinkable water in the taps and the shower but everywhere throughout our homes and also without as well, when we are watering our gardens and washing our sidewalks. In Canada we live in abundance and there is nothing wrong with it as long as we appreciate and celebrate our good fortune and also preserve it for the next generation who come behind us.