I have an old book that became mine when my mother-in-law passed away. It's title is Words to Live By. There are several authors who penned their opinions from subjects like growing up, doing and being, loving and liking, definitions of success and more. While reading one in particular it spoke volumes to me and how we need to take care of this world we live in by doing what we can now! I want to share it with you....
The author, Roger Hull, writes:
Have you ever asked yourself this question: If every citizen performed just as you do, where would the country be? What if every fellow worked at his job the way you work, showed the same interest, the same diligence, the same faithfulness, the same skill and discipline? What would happen to our country? Someone has aptly said that there are really only two kinds of people: those who are part of the problem and those who are part of the solution. Well, what about you? Do you think only in terms of yourself - how much you can make, what you can get out of life? Those who think that way are definitely part of the problem. Or are you concerned with the contribution you can make - how much you can give, how much you can put in? People like that are part of the answer. Some people treat life like a slot machine, trying to put in as little as possible, and always hoping to hit the jackpot. But I believe that people are wiser, happier, and have more inner peace when they think of life as a solid, intelligent investment from which they receive in terms of what they put in. And by so doing they help preserve our free society.
Our lives are getting more and more chaotic because we are not taking care of ourselves but instead are allowing others to make decisions for us because we don't do one very important thing... VOTE! If you are feeling like you can't make a difference let me tell you YES YOU CAN! When people are concerned enough, tired enough, disgusted enough, they will make a difference. But let's do it in a civil manner. No trash talking against others. That is not good for anybody is it? Can't we have opinions without fearing that someone will tear that opinion apart and with it our dignity? After all, we are Americans! Do we remember what that means?
Let's hear it from George D. Mardikian, author of Son of America...
The other day, in Seattle, Washington, I gave a talk before several hundred people, and told them that I thought America was a strong, beautiful and righteous country. A young man came up to me afterward and said with a knowing smile, "No wonder you go about singing the praise of America. In Europe, you were nothing. America has made you rich and famous." Before I could reply he was gone.
It's true America has been good to me, and I count my blessings every day. But I wanted to find that young man and say, "You miss my point. The priceless thing America has given to me has nothing to do with money or fame. Some would call it national pride. I call it the dignity of being American."
To someone born here -- born free -- it's hard to understand. He's never known what it is to be without it. I was born in Armenia. Today, I cannot find my Armenia -- the Armenia of my fathers -- on the map.
Forty years ago, when I came to America, I had to flee my home like a criminal. yet my only crime was being an Armenian. That July morning, when I first saw the Statue of Liberty from the deck of the immigrant steamer, it was like suddenly hearing a hymn of hope. I lifted my head, and my heart. I took deep breaths of the fresh harbor air. For the first time in my life, I felt free -- thrillingly and blessedly free.
This, thank God, is not a private experience. There are millions like me in America today-- fugitives from unhappy lands across the seas. We're grateful of course for our three meals a day, and our jobs, and for the opportunities that America has so generously given to us and our children.
But we'd fight and die before we'd give up that feeling of dignity-- that right to hold up our heads, look the world in the eye, and call ourselves Americans.
Wow - that was a great story! Makes me proud to be a born an American! How about you? Please don't take your freedoms for granted. Take the time to understand what kind of mess this America is in and that it didn't happen over night and it sure isn't going to get cleaned up any quicker. But if we pull together and do the right thing every day for ourselves and for the generations we leave behind then maybe, just maybe this will be the America we all can be proud to claim!
