As a kid I always had to work on the Fourth of July at my parent’s Dairy Queen because a lot of our employees happen to call out ‘sick’ and it was usually very busy. So I never got to see the Fourth fireworks back then.
Nowadays, given that I no longer help out at the DQ as much, I’m a bit more free to appreciate this great American holiday.
And I really love this holiday more than any other. I love the Fourth of July because to me, it embodies what I think this country stands for. And that is the realization of the idea of Liberty. Like most I take liberty to mean freedom to pursue our dreams but I think for me it goes deeper.
On this Fourth of July, I would pose that as we celebrate America’s independence from England, we remind ourselves that no matter how bleak the outlook is for our economy or our ability to thrive in this global world, that we cherish the CHOICES we continue to have as Americans.
Think about it. We have more choices about where we want to work, how we want to work, where and how we choose to live and in which ways we want to educate our kids. From whatever lifestyle, type of job, area of business, or academic pursuit we wish to embark upon, we have boat loads of choices.
We can start a new business today in a day! From incorporating a new business on Legal Zoom.com to creating a website on Go Daddy.com to putting together an event with 50 of your Facebook friends to launch that new business. It is so much easier to do all of this today than it was 10 years ago. We don’t necessarily have these choices in other countries.
I believe that Choice is the secret sauce in our ability to embrace the chaotic world that we live in today. We can choose the way we think and the way we act each and everyday. We can choose to focus on the important things in life. We can choose to pursue whatever crazy business idea we want.
This Fourth, let’s celebrate our ability to have choice in so many parts of our life in this country more than any other place on earth.
Have a happy Fourth of July!
