At the risk of sounding like a chauvinist, I want to elaborate on some of the values that make Americanism what it is… the freedom to develop one’s skills and talents, the opportunities to look beyond what is before us, continual newness that always awaits the seeker, etc, etc. While it is true that not all have as many opportunities for self development as others, the road lies before us all, whether it be fully open or sometimes wrested from imposed limitations. It is also true that being an American is not a panacea, but to people like my East European husband, its possibilities were a gold mine, and I never, ever heard him regret the effort it took to bring him to these shores.
Lovely lands...
Perhaps we are not looking at a place …surely there are lovely lands all over our globe… but an ideal, something that is always causing us to stretch forth our imagination and energies to achieve. If we are lucky, we may find that some wonders are just beyond our reach but nevertheless keep us extending ourselves beyond what we might have imagined.
Excellence in living...
Who can say what excellence in living really means since it will be different for every individual? Yet we recognize certain givens… freedom indeed to be what we want to be, and the largeness of soul to assist others in their own self searches. Yes, the roads are many, as there should be, and sometimes greatly convoluted… America is a great place to start, and for those who persist, a magnificent place to finish!
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