In Honor of Independence Day

So normally I don't participate in the blog challenges on this little website I frequent like twelve times a day, but I thought this challenge was pretty good. It is a challenge to write why you love your country or what it is that you love about your country.

Well, here goes:

1. I love that we're a scrappy bunch. I mean, we declared our independence and won! Our country's founders saw that they could be free and they made it happen. I regret that so many days go by and I forget that because of what they started I have the freedom to agree or disagree with my fellow Americans and that, as difficult and impossible as it may seem, I can have an impact on my country.

2. I can vote. It is my pleasure to stand in a really long line (and usually behind somebody a tad on the stinky side) and have my say. It doesn't always go the way I want it to, but darnit....I still have the freedom to do it. And you know what...I have the freedom to go in there and write in my own freakin' name if I don't like the choices given to me. That's right, kids. Mommy's running for President!

3. I like all of our accents. I'm not kidding! I love that you go just a couple of states over and those people sound different - but they're still us! They are Americans. And I love that people from other countries can come to us and then THEY can become Americans. And you know what....I even love that other people are so jealous of what we have that they will go to incredible lengths to destroy us. But they can't. You hear that Osama? You can knock down buildings and try to kill as many of us as possible, but can't kill our spirit.

And we do have a spirit.

We have a spirit of giving. When New Orleans was drowning, people from all over the United States were offering their homes to displaced families. They offered money, food, beds, trailers...whatever they could come up with. Yeah, a lot of bad things happened during that time, but a lot of good stuff happened too.

We have a spirit of justice. We avenge the wrongs done to us but forgive when we can. We want to spread our spirit of justice all over the world, which has gotten us into some sticky situations and has caused some contention here at home. But there's a reason people love America and it's because what it all comes down to is that here in America, you can be yourself.

That's right. As paradoxical as it sounds, we have a spirit of individualism. You have the freedom to walk around however you please. Like blue jeans and flip flops? Great. Wear 'em. You like burqas? Great. Wear 'em. But nobody is going to tell you that you can't wear blue jeans or that you have to wear a burqa. That's just how we roll. Free.

The definition of freedom is "the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical constraint" (dictionary.com).

For all the wrong and all the complaints you may have, you can't argue with the fact that as an American you are free.

'Oer the land of the free....and the home of the brave.