I originally wrote this blog in July of 2008 and believe the message even more today. Let's thank our veterans for letting us celebrate this wonderful holiday and to our family and friends.
As our country ponders what we will do to right the ship, we need to remember it is OUR country - we did not give the power to someone else. Thus WE must be the change we want to see to paraphrase Ghandi.
Happy 5th of July!
What? Happy 5th of July? Don't you mean 4th of July? Nope...5th. Here's my thought process.
On July 4th, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress . Actually on July 2nd, the Congress had already voted to declare independence from Great Britian. It was later published and signed near the beginning of August.
So, why Happy 5th?
On the Fourth, we actually made a statement as a country saying, "We're not gonna take it anymore." We listed the reasons why, what we believed to be the ideal nation, etc, but on the morning of the 5th, can't you imagine those of the Continental Congress waking up to wonder, "What did we just do?" They had pledged EVERYTHING they had to see this through!
It's a whole lot easier to say, "I'm not gonna take this anymore and I'm changing something", than it is to actually do it. Once you've made that public statement you have to begin to formulate how the action will take place; how you will change what you believe to be substandard. How many of us have said, I'm gonna lose weight, or I'm gonna finish school to wake up this next morning thinking, ahhh...maybe tomorrow.
Well, these people had no choice. They had made a rather bold statement of independence and now they were known for it. People would be judging them on how they had achieved that goal or fallen short. They would judge them if they individually profited from the situation.
So, I believe it much harder to actually put the statement into action and today was the day of action for our country. We could no longer talk about doing something, we had to move, take action, change the world. And...overall, I believe it worked out very well.
But...I imagine for a little bit on the morning of the 5th of July, 1776 there were some men who wondered What the heck did we do yesterday? And today, July 5th, 2008 there will be more men wondering the same thing, but for different reasons! Happy 5th!
1 comment:
Isn't that the true measure of character? Understanding the ramifications of "what did I just do?", and standing behind it anyway.
Not that I've ever exhibited any self doubt, mind you ;)
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