In times of great problems, small acts may be the only way to live.

Been a while, hasn't it? I confess that I've taken a deliberate break from facebook, blogging and the internet in general recently. I even had a post or two prepared on the subject of my disillusionment, but they fell by the wayside. Anyway, I was able to get out of the country for a while, which was something of a chance to refresh and recharge. But I digress.

I've often wondered, in reflective and pensive moods, whether or not we are simply here in this generation to witness the end of all things. With the environment being generally destroyed, mankind still too stupid to realise the futility of war, and a population that seems exponential, I've often wondered whether we will ever draw a line, and whether that will be in time.

Its also worrying to see so many things that I have always loved disappearing. Birds, insects, animals, countryside, coastline, cultures, people... so on. In the Algarve when I first went there somewhere around 17 years ago as a boy the place was quite undeveloped, full of wildlife and boasting a sky full of stars at night. Now hotels abound, development hides the land and the star visibility is not much different from the UK.

In many ways, my own perspective on all this counters with the knowledge that we are onlya very small part of this universe, and that the earth itself would keep on spinning without notice if all life and current thought were stripped from it. Were we, and all the life here, gone the universe would not notice in the slightest. But that doesn't stop me lamenting the loss of the unique beauty of this place.

Inevitably, whilst I have made lifestyle changes and conscious decisions to try and back my moral compunctions, one man can't really change the world. The only thing he can really do is small acts here and there that hope to flap a butterfly wing and turn the tide.

One of the small things that came my way was to wander across a rapidly drowning dragonfly in my travels in Portugal. Rescuing it took but a moment. More was spent trying to ensure it could dry out and hopefully survive, allowing it to cling on to my hand in order to shelter it from the wind.

Sadly, all effort was in vain, since the dragonfly had been waterlogged too long. Despite retrieving it and doing my damndest, it didn't survive. But even though it failed, the act was at least there. Small actions are about all we can do in this world. Their value can be as much in their intent as the result, and even whenthe result fails it is the will that you set towards the world that counts. It is what will be passed from you, to others and to the world around you.

So don't underestimate what you can acheive with small actions, especially those meant tosave the world you love and to leave more behind for those that follow. Small actions are the flap of a wing - even a dragonfly wing - that once in a great while contribute to the storm.