SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FOURTH OF JULY

With the fourth rapidly approaching I thought the following to be time appropriate.

Independence day is for most people a day off work, a day for picnics, family time, and fireworks. For me it is also a day of getting in touch with my thoughts, to think about the rights we have because of where we live.

I believe we take many of the rights we have for granted, the right to travel unimpeded, not just from town to town or state to state but anywhere in this beautiful country we choose. In many countries of the world you are not allowed to leave your home area without state issued travel documents.

Here in America we have the right to complain about the government and the people who run it. We even have the right to choose who runs the government by voting, this is not so in many parts of the world.

Here in America we have the right to challenge laws we believe are wrong, the recent passage of the conceal and carry law ( whether you agree with it or not) is a prime example.

Here in America we have the right to education, and to choose how much education we receive, admittedly some people have to work harder to achieve higher education than others ( I worked three jobs at once while in college) but with determination a college degree is available to all who desire it and are willing to do the necessary work to achieve it.

Here in America perhaps the greatest right we have is the right to choose how we will live, the right to improve ourselves and our situations. No one in this country is required to stay poor or to stay in a menial job. If we are stuck in a dead-end job we have the right to quit and to go on to a different field of endeavour. Sure it may take hard work, long hours, or even changing the amount of education we have, but in America we have that right!! Bill Gates was not born a millionaire, he became one by hard work. W. Clement Stone who was one of the richest men in America started out selling newspapers on a street corner in Chicago.

So on this Fourth of July I urge all of you to take a look at your situations in life, and if you are not satisfied, to take the necessary steps to change it. It is after all one of the many rights we have because we live in this land of rights, this land we call The United States of America.