It would be nice if the planet - like so many other things in modern day life - came with a guarantee. "If, for any reason, this planet fails to yield the resources required for, or the environment conducive to, the continuation of the species commonly referred to as homo sapiens, God agrees to replace this planet at no cost to the inhabitants at any time within one eternity at no cost to the inhabitants themselves."

Life don't work that way. Our planet didn't come with any guarantee, and - more important in these times - it didn't come with an insurance policy. For too many of us, the fate of the earth isn't something we want to think about; doing so only makes us nervous. Who can understand all the changes taking place, and who can acknowledge those changes without being overcome by a sense of fear for what tomorrow will bring?

The state of the ecology is nothing new; it's been decades since we first began to recognize - and worry a little bit about - atmospheric pollution, water pollution, pesticides, wastes, overpopulation and erosion. Here in America, we were busy with other things - primarily Reagan's priorities - during the late 1970s and early 1980s. But in other parts of the world - where the trickle down effect wasn't diverting the national attention - global ecology took on a whole new importance. As country after country began to feel the direct effects of choices we, as a species, had made earlier in the mane of progress, a growing sense of alarm at the state - and future - of the planet became the standard. By the late 1980s, our time had come. We experienced a record setting drought, record flooding, and the hurricane of the century on the eastern seaboard.

The trend has continued, and - according to most sources - will continue to intensify at least until the end of this century. Many of the effects - particularly those that concern pollution of the air and water - will last for hundreds of years. Our great - great - great - great- great -great grandchildren will still be experiencing the repercussions of ecological choices made by the last five generations. Some of these issues are being addressed on a local level, but the concern today is for those problems that are global, and potentially irreversible.

Among the problems that fall into this category is the buildup of greenhouse gases, the thinning of the ozone layer above the South Pole (which we just became aware of in 1985), the destruction of the rain forests, and the accelerating extinction of other species on the planet. All of these processes are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to stop. Positive change is no simple issue. Both political and socio-economic factors are at play, and because the impact of future choices is so long-lasting and so ominous in nature, those choices carry a great momentum on a worldwide basis.

We are only now beginning to realize the tremendous impact of our past choices, and the realization that in many cases we have done irreparable damage due to our own lack of understanding of the workings of the planet, we hesitate to make future choices, for fear that we will make the same mistakes again and end up doing more harm than good. Even those who are not ecology minded are being forced to look at planetary issues from their own level. What good does a summer home do you if the water is polluted and you can't burn wood in the fireplace? As Henry David Thoreau so aptly put it: "What good is a house if you don't have a decent planet to put it on?"

We are all living on the brink of fear, but we're not sure what it is we're afraid of. We know the planet is changing, but we don't understand the technicalities of how those changes came about or what those changes will ultimately be. More important, we don't understand how those changes will affect our lives, and the lives of our children, and the lives of their children.

We each wonder, each time we hear about another planetary plaque, another poisoned sea, tainted air, radioactive soil, oil spills, and the Ozone layer, whether this ecological straw will be the one that will break the planet's ecological back. Positive change away from self-destruction and toward a lifestyle that is more in harmony with the planet and the other life forms on it is a global issue, but the responsibility for activating that change falls to every individual living on the planet today.

The price we will pay for sitting back and hoping that someone else takes care of the problem for us will be living in the midst of the ecological chaos we have created. And - life don't work that way.

Lois Grant-Holland is a Life Path Focus Counselor offering Life Path Focus Sessions, Karmic Astrology Charts, Channeled Guidance, Intuitive Readings and Classes and Workshops to spiritual seekers on all positive paths, and is the site facilitator at The A.N.S.W.E.R. - (The Seeker's Resource Guide to Alternative, New Thought, Spiritual Growth, Wellness and Enlightenment Resources.) You can visit her website at http://www.loisgrantholland.com