America years ago was the eye-catcher of the world. People around the world who knew about us thought this country was worth dying for just to try to get here. There are still some people who believe that, but the numbers are going down. Jobs are shipped overseas, neighboring third world countries create and produce goods, and in this country, violent crime is higher than in any other country in the world to the best of my knowledge. What happened to the days when “Made in America” was the most searched label? Whatever happened to the days of baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolets? What happened to our ingenuity and innovation? Why are our children called stupid for trying to be smart? How can we regain our composure? How can we become all that we are capable of doing as a nation? How can we be the role model for the world instead of just the protectors?
First of all, I say that we should stop complaining about everything. This would be a great start! If you read message boards on the Internet, or listen to most talk shows on the radio, or watch the nightly news, you’ll know what I mean when I say too many people complain about too many things, and most what to complain about is something that cannot be changed or something very insignificant from a general point of view. Furthermore, the vast majority of complainants do not offer their own solution or their own ideas on how to arrive at a solution. Wouldn’t it be nice to hear someone say “I don’t like it this way, this is how it can be changed and why” and follow up with the best explanation as to why?
I have had many such experiences and have read about many more. For example, my father moved us to a beautiful island in South Carolina called Hilton Head. Now, he wasn’t rich, but he was full of energy and he was a retired Army general, so he was also very stubborn. When we moved there, our community had a lot of financial and other problems. The island was owned by a town that wasn’t really very close to us and they were enforcing rules and policies that weren’t in the best interest of Hilton Head but in the best interest, of course, of that town. Long story short, my father and some of his friends went to work defending our community and ended up successfully securing their independence. He did not just complain about the situation as many people were doing as evidenced by editorials in the newspapers. Instead, he decided there was a better way to do things and set out to persuade people that doing it was in their best interest.
Second, open your minds and hearts. A closed mind is a terrible waste of intelligence. As soon as someone thinks they know everything, it’s over. If the world had listened to people like that, America would still be one big forest with Indians hunting with bows and arrows. Many in the Western world had visions of a flat world and were afraid to venture too far because they would surely fall off the edge of the Earth and be forgotten and many in the Eastern world had no aspirations to explore that far. A group of people, most famously Christopher Columbus, decided they didn’t know everything and set out to find answers.
Renaissance is really about people who are open-minded and creative. In my own life I have experienced many times where I could just give up. My parents were very strong willed. They grew up in a specific society and way of life where they thought and continue to think today that working for someone else is the only way to be successful and that no one in our family is qualified or serving enough to venture out and make a difference. It’s not secure enough on top of all that. John Alston puts on a funny show on stage as he shows how people live their lives. Go to his website, johnalston.com, and see excerpts, I promise you it’s worth the effort. He says that every day people get up, go to work, come home and go to bed. 5 days a week they do that. There’s also a stat that I’ve seen, and I don’t have a link, sorry to say, that says most heart attacks happen on Monday mornings. I wonder why it is so.
Open your mind to something new. Don’t accept the status quo as the only solution. Don’t accept that someone’s interpretation is set in stone just because it’s in a book (even an old book) or just because so many other people believe it to be true. There is usually another point of view that is equally or more valid. The problems in the Middle East are due to closed minds and closed hearts with a bit of pride mixed in. Ok, maybe a lot of pride. The point is that if Israel and Palestine were open to more than negotiations over land ownership and settlements, if they weren’t so stuck on the idea that theirs is the only correct interpretation of the world, if they weren’t so stubborn as if to insist that the other side is evil because of their interpretation, then maybe, just maybe, peace would follow.
Here in this country I experienced something that unfortunately is becoming the norm among young people. I was waiting in the middle of the street on a bike waiting for a friend to catch up with me and looking in that direction. He just so happened that there was a teenager sitting on a milk crate between where I was looking and where I was standing. Instead of looking to see what I was looking at, he decided that he knew everything and said in a fighting tone and tone “What are you looking at!?” In addition to the incredible command of the English language, I noticed that his mind was closed to everything except his own little gang-related world, where anyone who looks in his direction must be interested in fighting.
Third, focus on excellence instead of tomorrow’s paycheck. Every day we witness the consequences of this problem. Greed is the common word for it in some circles. Ruth is the word for that in others. Either way, money is portrayed as being more important than being happy or doing your best. The termination, or at least the drastic reduction, of some “diseases” such as cancer has been long delayed due to corporate greed. Homelessness and theft are due to greed. Apathy is by routine. We could, as a nation, come together and cooperate on a plan to solve many of the problems related to money and perhaps even eliminate the need for money altogether. Something I often say is that the world will live in peace, joy and abundance when we all decide to do so. Hollywood, the government, and the media, among others, could play a very good role in helping make this happen. They will do it? That’s up to you and me. If we all focus on doing what we believe will create a better tomorrow for the world, if we think of every decision we make in light of a bright future, if we stop thinking about “what’s in it for me” and put it into “what is best for my children’s grandchildren”, then we will have a focus on excellence and excellence is what we will have as a nation and as a world. We have all the excellence within us. Let’s release it so that we and the world can benefit from it.