The Life Recycled

I don’t really mean to be irreverent

But just the other day as I was putting out our bins

I noted how important the concept of re-cycling had become

We can no longer just chuck all our disposable material

Into one multi-function receptacle – and shout good riddance to it

No doubt most of you will have, as a minimum,

A bin for garden waste, a bin of paper waste,

A bin for glass, a bin for food waste

And a general purpose bin for all the rest

And woe-betide if you use the wrong one!

Of course the earnest intention of all of this

Is that as much of our unloved detritus

Will form the basis of some kind of new creation

Having been subjected to a non-religious process of ‘reincarnation’

The essence of the old contained in the new!

This train of thought led on to my consideration

Of the rather more serious issue of the re-cycling of life

Perhaps, you care to give little thought to this

Just as most of us do not agonise over the bin routine

Perhaps this one life is more than enough anyway

But throughout history many major world faiths and ideologies

Have stressed the centrality of the concept of reincarnation

Not least the Hindu religion and the Buddhist belief in rebirth

And don’t forget the importance of karma

Which may decide the progression of rebirth

Anyway, not to be too profound or philosophical

The 21^st century homo sapiens

Is not dismissive of the notion of recycling

Within this one present life we can be sure of

Can we self-upgrade to a better model?

Indeed it seems to me that the whole self-improvement industry

Is predicated on the idea that we can start with what we’ve got

And by a process of development and enhancement

We can recycle into a much improved model

A shiny new mind in a shiny new body!

Of course the difference here from the dust-bin model

Is that we don’t throw anything away

We transform it by effort and determination

A century ago ‘Pelmanism’ showed the way ahead

Today we are awash with new nostrums

So from the ancient wisdom of Yoga and Tai Chi

To modern Pilates and Zumba

And not just strictly ballroom!

Psychological cognitive therapies and Mindfulness

The gym recycled as the temple for worship

So here we are – don’t forget the bins

[Perhaps they are the most important source of health!]

But don’t forget yourself

You must not simply vegetate – you owe it to yourself

Let that new life begin today – without delay!

Ken Fisher