Resourcefulness

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Living in the developed world under the indoctrination of corporate consumerism causes many people to rely on consumer goods to solve simple problems. The disposal is considered preferable to the durable. Cars are leased and flipped in a fraction of their lifespan. Supermarkets have long shelves of premixed cleaning products with hazardous chemicals and dyes in polluting plastics. Disposable diapers have caused major environmental degradation. 

Resourcefulness is a very valuable personal quality. Most of us who value it have developed it out of necessity. We have learned to use what we have wisely from the experience of having very little or from being raised by those who lived in poverty. 

Some may consider manipulating the welfare system to avoid personal development as resourcefulness. This is not what I am talking about. Those who participate in black markets for food stamps and who have children to receive welfare payments are simply uneducated and conditioned by their parents to do this. This is institutionalized poverty, not resourcefulness. 

Resourcefulness is not just about obtaining or sustaining. Resourcefulness, motivated by compassion, can do great good. The effective psychotherapist is usually quite resourceful in the interests of his/her clients. The resource physician is highly prized. The resourceful handyman can make a great difference in the environment of someone with little money. 

Being resourceful requires estimating and understanding available resources. This requires education about, experimentation with and appreciation of what is available, as opposed to bemoaning what is not available. "This is what I have." is the start of the process of being resourceful. Always looking at what could be available or should be available can be self-defeating. It is often an excuse for not moving on with what is available.