Get out and VOTE!

I am exercising my rights as an American Citizen tomorrow...I am voting for the candidates of my choice, I am choosing which propositions I support, I am letting my voice be heard!

Never more than today, in time of war and conflict where friends and strangers fight for the freedoms of people I've never met, what better way to express gratitude for the country I live in, the freedoms others have fought and died for, than to get out there and VOTE!

I have always considered myself lucky to live here in the USA. I was really blessed to be born here. (I would have been a real trouble maker anywhere else.) When I read in the newspaper about others who live in countries where trouble and turmoil and the trampling of rights is rampant, I think about how much our country needs to be humbled by the great men and women who made our life in this country what it is. Too many Americans quarrel over inconsequential details, and imagine themselves wronged by so many minor indiscretions. The world over, there are still people who struggle for basic human rights, for a quality of life that they may never have.

I cannot change the rest of the world. The only place I can affect is my little corner of the universe. I try to do that by being the best I can be (or making an effort at it, at least), by fulfilling my responsibilities as a citizen, by exercising the privilege of voting, and by helping in small ways to make tiny contributions to making the world better. I'm darn lousy at it most days, to be perfectly honest...but it's like learning to play the piano...If at first, you sound terrible, practice, practice, practice. If you give up at the first wrong note, you'll never play that song. But if you keep it up, who knows what kind of music you can make?

Here's hoping that together, we can make a symphony!!!