Thankful to Be In America!

Image via WikipediaHappy 4th of July to all of my readers!

While we celebrate today, a day of celebration for our independence, let us realistically take a look inward and realize that we are very lucky to live in the times that we do. Despite what you say about America's tyrannical stranglehold on the world, or conflicts overseas, let us look at ourselves as individuals.

1) We are free to congregate, associate, and participate in almost any activity or group that we wish. Making these decisions are something we make everyday but we think so little about them day to day. I am free to meet my friends, gather at rallies, group together other like minded individuals, and even petition something that I feel is unjust to the greater good of a community.

2) We are free to worship...or choose not to. If a person wants to be Catholic, they can make the change, if they want to be Muslim, they can make that change, if they want to be Buddhist, they can feel free of persecution to make that decision. If you choose to be non-believer, then no one will hold you over the coals and have you excommunicated from the country for that decision.

3) Free access to information is a great liberty we have here in the United States. Unlike other countries that drastically attempt to monitor and limit a population's access to information, we are free to roam about the net. Now many will say that they cannot trust the media, that's fine, access the news from other countries, read blogs from around the world, or connect and share information through social networks, ultimately the freedom is ours.

4) We are free to make a CHOICE. In the past even I have been guilty of complaining about a situation, but not actively taking a role to enact change. Those days are past, if I see something wrong, I move against it with solutions to make things better. I don't always expect to be right, and if I'm wrong, I looked to be proven wrong, but if we don't participate in the "global conversation" nothing moves forward. I think this is where many of us tend to fail to realize how much power we have as individuals. Never settle, the only way to make things happen is to voice, find support and create a movement.

Easier said than done? Perhaps, but if enough people stand up to be heard, you WILL be heard!

So today let us be thankful, let us love one another as true American celebrating this eventful day and let's look towards a progressive future.