Memorializing a belief.

Something designed to preserve, honor, and remember the memory of a person or an event, either as a monument or a holiday... A memorial. There is no day that we can designate, no statue we could erect, or ceremony we can hold that would truly honor the memory of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have so selflessly given their lives in defense of our country. Our words will never be enough, and our money will never fill the holes in the hearts of those that held them dear, the only way that we can begin to preserve and honor those who have gone and fallen before us is through our actions.

 It started nearly 250 years ago. It was nothing more than a belief, an idea, which sprouted into hope for something more. Hope for a place where sex didn't differentiate, a place where race was nothing more than an accent or a color, and a place where everyone would have an opportunity to succeed. Eventually this idea was born, it started on paper, and was ultimately forged through the blood of hundreds of thousands of men and women. They were all dedicated to the same thing, this idea, this belief and hope that we could be something great. Its a belief that puts faith in who we can be, not just who we are. A belief that is recognized through the blood of its defenders.

Over the years this belief has been preserved, from the hills of Gettysburg, to the sands of Iwo Jima, the beaches of Normandy, and most recently the streets of Baghdad and mountains of Afghanistan. Through these conflicts men and women have risen up to uphold that belief. They've rallied to uphold it for our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, and for men and women throughout the world who do not have anyone willing to stand up and defend that belief for them. Spider-man was once told that with great power comes great responsibility, obviously this was in reference to his spidey senses and ability to swing from building to building. But with great power does come great responsibility, and we have a great power. It isn't in our nuclear weapons, it isn't in our ships, it isn't in our hundreds of thousands of servicemen and women, nor even in our clandestine operations. Our great power stems from our ability to resist evil, our ability to bring about change without violence. It comes from the fact that we can inspire others to hope and strive for that belief.

Like some of you I have lost brothers and sisters to that belief, and as I sit here writing this tonight many of my closest friends from the Marine Corps are deployed in combat zones, right now, defending that belief. I wish that this weekend I could kick back and relax, and I probably will enjoy a beer or two, but it will be with a heavy heart. A heart that is burdened with the sacrifices of so many who felt it was their duty to safeguard that belief. As we remember on this memorial day, lets remember their families. The husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters. Always remember, and never forget.

Perfect.

There is nothing more frustrating for a writer than having something to say, but not knowing how to say it. You think of every possible way you could word it, or every way you could start the post or the story but it just doesn't quite work. But the magic, the magic when it clicks, takes away all of that frustration that it had caused before. 

We are always looking for the right thing to say, the thing that will just blow someone's mind, stop their heart, or cause them to melt it our arms. We're constantly waiting for 'perfect'. But have you ever wondered how much we miss by sitting around waiting for perfect? Perfect doesn't exist inside of this world. There has only been one perfect thing to ever walk this earth and that was God himself. So why do we so vehemently and constantly chase something that is in all ways impossible for us to achieve? We chase it because that's what we've been told to do. Girls chase perfect beauty because that's what they've been told they need in order to get attention. Men and women chase perfect sex in a relationship because that's what they think makes a marriage, except in reality marriage makes the sex, not the other way around. These fleeting pursuits of perfection are never ending, and its rather ironic because in our attempt to achieve the perfect happiness we settle for miserableness while we chase something that doesn't exist. 

This One is for You

Everyday is an adventure. Maybe not the kind that involves surviving in the wilderness or backpacking across Europe, but its all a matter of perspective right? What if, instead of waking up everyday and dreading what would happen, dreading what we would have to do, what if we viewed everyday for what is...an unwritten book, a clean slate, a new story to be told.

Every morning we wake up, we do the same routine, eat the same thing for breakfast, pack the same thing for lunch, and go to work at the same place. At first its nothing more than routine. But eventually it becomes a habit and in turn that becomes a lifestyle, and before we know it we are sleepwalking through life. We're hoping the chores will do themselves, or that dinner will be fixed when we get home. We forget about birthday and anniversaries, and we start expecting other people to do more for us than we do for them. In turn the excitement goes away, the passion fades, and life essentially has no more meaning.

We settle with this outcome for two reasons, one - its the easy way, and two - it deadens the pain. It makes us numb to the beating of betrayal or heartbreak. It takes the sting out of words, slows the tears of loss, and reduces our feeling of worry, giving us a false sense of comfort. Yet, in accepting these two reasons we also allow it to suck the passion and desire from marriage, the care and love from our families, and the excitement from the small day to day things that make life what it is. You see, without all of these things, without the appreciation for the little things, what do we have? What reasons do we have to live? If we never allow life to be enough, then we will spend all of our time in constant agony over what is missing instead of cherishing what is there.