...it's We The People

All of us are struggling right now--struggling with this economy and job market, struggling with personal demons, struggling with personal relationships, yet we treat each other like crap because we feel entitled.

Huh?

Enough already!  Be the change. 

You don't like to see litter on the street, then pick one piece of trash up.  If everyone picked up a piece of litter imagine how clean the country would be.  Don't say the city should send a street cleaning truck to do it.  Pick it up--just pick up one piece of trash a day. 

Let someone in your lane who is trying to merge in the highway--don't cause an accident by aggressive driving.  Let the pedestrian have the right of way.

Take care of your neighbor--first by being polite, second by not infringing on your neighbor's rights, and third by trying to meet your neighbor's needs. We all have needed, need, or will need a hand one day--so if you can help, help now.  Don't wait for someone else to do it.  You do it.

Do you have old clothes you no longer want hanging in the closet?  Bag them; call the Purple Heart. They pick up--so you don't even have to waste time or spend gas to help others. Have gently used toys?  Call a local orphanage or a crisis center for families in crisis.

Did you make a big dinner and hate leftovers, so you'll just throw the food out?  Grab a container and share the leftovers with someone who is hungry--either a neighbor that you know who is in need (we all know who is in need--we're nosey enough) or seek out an agency like Aid for Friends who transport meals made by others to the elderly and homebound who find cooking to be a challenge.

Do you know a latch-key kid and you're a stay-at-home parent?  Invite the latch-key kid over for  a snack and help the kid with homework. 

Volunteer.  Volunteer with youth--help with scout meetings or afterschool activities.  Find out where the scouts meet and ask if you can help once in a while.  Help kids stay out of trouble. 

If you're a parent, imagine the example you would show your child(ren) by helping someone who needs it.

At the very least, let's be civil to one another.

Be the change. 

Decency doesn't come from a government bailout.  We can't expect the government to meet all of our needs.  Conservatives shout that we're turning into a welfare society, and perhaps there is some truth to their observation. 

We need to roll-up our sleeves and work to make America better.  President Obama doesn't have a magic wand.  We need to stand straight and embrace the call to greatness that is required right now to make America healthy and strong again.

Let's stop waiting for someone else to do it, and do it ourselves.

Everyone uses toilet paper.  Everyone farts.  No one is better than anyone else.  We don't live in an aristocracy.  There are no serfs, no vassals, no lords.

It's a Democracy--We the People. 

I am humbled when I focus on those three words:  We the People.  How powerful.  How profound.  How utterly true.   

We the People have needs.  We the People are in crisis.   We the People know the work needed to affect positive change.  We the People need to commit ourselves to being the change instead of waiting for other people to lead the movement.

After all, it's We the People...not Other People.

Our destiny, our call to action, our birthright in three words: We the People. Note well it's not these two:  Other People.