Celebrate our Red, White, and Blue

Author’s Note: I’m traveling this week and using an (edited) article written seven years ago. I hope it still feels relevant.

I enjoy all holidays, but Independence Day, July Fourth, is especially significant. Not only are gifts not expected, and the food is plentiful, but it reminds me of my freedom and how it isn’t free—the cost is immense.

We are the luckiest people in the world and have been for a long time. Also, most of us have not earned our privileges; they result from our birth and the efforts of millions. We mustn’t become apathetic or complacent about our good fortune, abundance, and opportunities.

The most impressive thing I remember about volunteering with the Red Cross after Katrina in 2005 was the many American flags flying in the rubbish. They were on demolished cars, homes, office buildings, churches, and mountains of wet stinky garbage. Even in the aftermath of mother nature’s wrath, people were proud to fly the US symbol of hope and possibilities. They could not find their homes, loved ones, or family treasures but managed to stake Old Glory.

We see our red, white, and blue on shirts, coats, blankets, hats and hat pins, jewelry, and furniture, to name a few. The world recognizes our stars and stripes and knows what they represent: The United States of America–the land of the free.

We are imperfect; we have racism, homelessness, child abuse, violence, and prejudice. We have wrongs to right, and we would all have healthier mental status if we contributed daily to fix what’s in our power. Everyone can and does make a difference in the growth or death of injustice, criticism without solutions, and elitism.

How fortunate we are to live in a country where our words are valued, our votes counted, and our freedoms protected.

I value highest the 1st Amendment: Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. We have a greater chance of being mentally well when we have choices and take responsibility for those choices.

We must not take the Bill of Rights for granted or abuse it. All amendments are personal rights intended for protection and equality. One amendment does not have precedence over another. For example, fighting for the right to keep and bear arms while trying to control where or how someone worships isn’t how it works.

Freedom is for me, him, her, and them, not just ME and mine or YOU and yours.

Next Tuesday, be grateful for your freedom, conscious of your influence, and accepting of equal rights.

It is my honor to embrace and nurture the values represented in Red, White, and Blue.

Happy Fourth of July!

Until the next time: Live while you live.

Jennifer Goble, Ph.D., LPC, is the author of “My Clients…My Teachers,” and the blogger and writer of Rural Women Stories: www.ruralwomenstories.com.