Friday, December 31, 2004
Resolve This
Back from Puerto Rico late last night. All in all a fabulous time with family and just taking in the ambiance of this warm and amazingly American yet un-American tropical island. Anybody who ever said anything as unthoughtful as, "If they're gonna live here, why don't they learn to speak English," should be air dropped into a foreign country. Then you should be forced to order food in a restaurant, get your car fixed, deal with the post office, look for a job and have to work for a minimum wage, or less, deal with enraged drivers when you can't figure out the road signs, violate any number of local customs because you haven't a clue. Eye opening experience, that. And then go ahead and try to learn that language that is foreign to you while you also try to scrape for your survival. And while you're at it, try to recall what, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," means.Even if you don't sport a "Proud to be an American" sticker on your pickup truck, you're damn lucky to be one and living here. Listening to foreigners from all over the globe, you can get an understanding of why there is reason not to be proud. I'm not whining about, though. I believe that whatever course you take to try to change things for the better in this land, it has to start with yourself. My personal philosophy is that we should be an ambassador of the goodness within each of us. Represent the better part of yourself to everybody else. Start from there and you have a much better chance of making changes in the world.
If that sounds like a New Year's Resolution, it's unintentional. My resolutions come daily and never need a holiday for an excuse. It's the only way I get anything done. That and listening to my wife. But if you're so inclined, go ahead, make some goals today but write them down. And read those goals to yourself every day this year. It's the only way to make dreams come true. I'm not a prayerful person. Never have been so you won't find the word in my lyrics. But I do know for certain that people who believe prayer works, do so because they make it happen. Praying or wishing for something without action is selfish nonsense. Prayer with action does work the same way that my goal setting and daily review of goals works. Call it psychology or religion, I don't care, whatever lights your candle. It'll work if you want it to. Just don't try to "save my soul," please. I'll take care of that on my own. It's on my list of goals. So I resolve once again to not ignore my goals this year.
posted by Bud @ 8:31 AM
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