I've heard lots of speeches

I've heard lots of speeches. Lots. I've grown up in church. Went to a school that had a chapel service everyday. Went to a college that had a chapel service everyday. Taught at a school that had a chapel service everday. Played for sports teams in high school and college where we had motivational speeches from coaches and sometimes players. I still like to watch TED talks from time to time or listen to a podcast through my ear buds. Overall, I like speeches. They can challenge, inspire, remind, ground. They can be like a little energy bar or sometimes like a slap in the face, "Wake up, sleepy!" But out of the thousands of speeches I've heard, I can probably count on my 2 hands, and maybe my 2 feet, ones that I remember, or at least remember the main point of. Of course I remember instances, like the one where the guy kept taking off his clothes only to reveal more clothes. The one where the guy rollerbladed. The one where the lady talked about sex (in middle school). The one where one guy dressed up as a Jewish rapper and the other guy as Matt Foley motivational speaker from SNL (oh yeah, that was me and my buddy Travis. Don't know if anyone got it, but we had fun!). But I don't always remember the main point of the ones I do remember. For instance, the one with the guy taking his clothes off could have been about how we all have different layers, or how we try to hide our true self under lots of stuff, or how to dress warm, or how to surprise people and then say just kidding. All of these could be good, but I don't remember.

Me and Travis on stage in India, speaking to the high schoolers. I remember my main point. It was about perseverance. But the students probably just remember 2 crazy teachers doing funny stuff.

One of the few main points that I do remember, and even a direct quote at that, was by a lady at the school we taught at in India. It was short but somehow powerful and memorable. It was about water. We were experiencing a drought and it had come to her attention that students had been wasting water, you know, taking 30 minute showers and stuff like that. Her point to the students was that this is not acceptable. As caring citizens of the world, we must treat water as a gift. And her final line that I've never forgotten was this: Water is more precious that gold, for without it (pause for dramatic effect), we could not survive.

The whole room was silent as we let that reality set in.

I've never really been without access to water. One time on a hike I had to run back a mile to refill our bottles as we realized there was no foreseeable river to cross in the future. But that wasn't too bad. All in all, I haven't had to think about it too much. Until we lived in the desert for the past month.
In the desert we had our water delivered to us by truck. When you run out, you run out. No mas agua. And because of this, the folks we stayed with salvaged every bit they could. The laundry water went into a container. The sink water was caught in a bucket to be put on plants. When it did rain, we collected all the rainwater we could from the roof. Showers were quick: turn on to get wet, turn off and lather up, turn on to wash off. Old goat water was thrown onto the base of certain trees. In most cases, the tree and not the toilet was used for number 1. I quickly became conscious of every time water was used, every second it was running. It was a new level of awareness for me that I'm sure many people have been confronted with throughout history and even today.
So, if you're trying to conserve water, or maybe just want to cut down on the water bill, or just want to be more mindful of its use in a world that needs it to survive, here's a few things we did at our last farm. (For more tips on how to conserve water, it's hard to beat Google.)

Dishes in the container in the sink. Eventually we would water the plants with this water.

Laundry water re-routed into this barrel, which doubles as rainwater storage.

One of the many bathrooms (for numero uno)

One of the sayings we used when I went to Honduras the first time: "When it's yellow, let it mellow. When it's brown, flush it down."

So, today, as you flush the toilet, wash some dishes, take a shower, or put that glass of watery goodness into your mouth, be grateful. It's a gift. And remember: Water is more precious than gold, for without it, we could not survive.