here on this Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.I watched the President's speech last night, occasionally through tear filled eyes, and was reminded why I voted for this man. And also reminded that one of the reasons I voted for change and hope was to rise to a better level in this country.
My son James is roughly a month younger that the little girl who was shot and killed Saturday. And I ended that speech thinking: have I acquitted myself in a manner over the last 2 years that would make him proud? Have I conducted my arguments in a manner that I would want him to copy? I have argued very strongly and vehemently for things I believed, in part because so much of what I believe is because I want a better country for my children. But have I done so in a way that would make them proud (assuming they understood everything that was going on)? To be brutally honest, no, not 100% of the time. I have resorted to some rather mean spirited name calling over the past 2 years.
Starting today I am going to take up that challenge voiced above, I will strive to focus on making things better. And rise above the mean spirited name calling and unnecessary quibbling over meaningless points, just trying to win an argument for the sake of winning.
Also, I had this thought yesterday afternoon, before the speech, I need to try and get more humor in my life. I have been so focused on making things better, which meant taking a lot of what I do seriously. But when you spend so much time focusing on little things, and trying to perfect them, it is easy to lose a bigger picture appreciation of life. It's an easy trap to fall in when you focus on self improvement, to lose sight of the good things. So I am going to try to get a little more fun and humor back in my life, and cut back on the diet of hard news and satire.
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