“You are grounded”.

“I don’t care,” the slouchy pre-teen shoots back.

“No TV till you pick up your grades.”

“Whatever”! mumbles the bored teen.

“Wake up, you will be be late for work the fifth day this week.”

“I don’t care”, groans the bleary eyed sleepyhead.

And thereafter, millions of ‘I don’t cares” and “whatevers’ crunch underfoot on the paths of our lives. We develop a chanting this and like a mantra that manifests into truth after a multitude of repetitions, the vibe of not caring too much, simply creeps up into our psyche unawares and takes up permanent residence. We no longer seem to care about anything. If anyone questions something we have done and suggests a better way, we don’t care. If they offer to rectify it for us, we care even less. Not caring becomes a convenient avenue for not taking responsibility for our mistakes, for avoiding finding better ways of doing things and even as a way to evade taking up any new challenges in life. On the outside, some of us don’t seem to care if our partner leaves us for another, if we are destroying our health by eating junk food, if we are pathologically late for work or if we drink too much. But these are just ways to stumble among the steep slopes of self-sabotage — of allowing our egos to gain paramountcy over the need to take back control of our lives, by first acknowledging to ourselves that there is a problem and there is a need to draw up a plan of action to U-turn the course of our life again towards greater health, self discipline and self improvement.

We are allowed to feel hurt if a relationship fails. We are allowed to feel worried if our body pains every morning when we wake up. And we are allowed to feel sad if we are not excelling at our work. We need to hear the alarm of urgency ringing insistently in our lives, instead of fumbling fingers of ‘I don’t cares’ shutting it up every time. In small doses, worry and hurt are necessary emotions because they jolt us awake from our tired slumber to the need for positive action — for learning to care about everything taking place in our life and in the lives of those around us. If we care that a relationship failed, we will introspect more and try to do it right the second, the third or the tenth time around. If we care that we feel low-energy first thing in the morning, we will take action to eat healthier, move away from unhealthy drinking and exercise more. If we are not doing well at work, we will start working on what we do well. We will take positive steps to become better and better. But only if we care first — and if our standards of self-achievement grow radically beyond ‘whatever’. Engaging with life with bushy tailed enthusiasm, seeking the spice of new experiences and approaching people with empathy and understanding are the only options for self-growth.

My Circle of Caring should expand more and more. The energy of “I care very much” should permeate my every word, action and stance. I care if you are in trouble and will do whatever I can to help. I care that I must wake up early and run my day with a modicum of discipline. I care what happens to you, though you no longer work where I do. Beyond my immediate circle of family and friends, my caring should expand with elasticity to encompass strangers on the street — I care enough to help if someone just fell on their butt on the sidewalk. I care enough to call 911 if I drive by and see a brawl in progress. And I care enough not to carelessly throw away a banana peel in the path of oncoming pedestrians.

As my Circle of Caring continues to grow in dimension and the energy of ‘I care’ surrounds my every thought lovingly, I care enough to do my bit in not littering the Earth ever more. I care enough to eat organically. I care enough to go green. I care enough to give back to Nature. And I care enough to nurture the plant of ‘I Care More’ and pass it along from person to person, so that one day, the refrain of “We Care” will make our world a beautiful and happier place to live.