Feelings of self-determination and efficacy are central to our core identity. We all want the ability to control and affect parts of our life.That said, we have very little ability to affect what happens at the global, national or state levels. Truth is, we have almost no ability to affect control or change at the global, national or state level. We do and can affect our local community.

What choices do I make every day? Should I spend a day at the beach, or should I spend a day doing a volunteer beach cleanup? I have a choice of buying bananas at Walmart or my local farmers market. What are the consequences of each choice? If the locally-made furniture is twice as much as the imported furniture, am I really making an optimal decision by buying local? What if the imported furniture is sold at a locally-owned business? What if it is sold at a big box retailer?

My goal is to look at my choices from six different perspectives:

• Personal Quality of Life
• Personal Economy (my family’s finances)
• Personal Health
• Community Quality of Life
• Community Economy
• Health of Community (environment)