August 12, 2011
As I sit hear reading on CNN about the soldiers we lost on the deadliest day since the war in Afghanistan started, I’m struck by a realization. Some of those men were my age or close to my age and yet they seemed so much older than me. They have accomplished so much in their young lives and contributed more to the world than I would ever be able to. I mean how can I contribute more than a soldier who died in action on his way to rescue other soldiers each fighting for something that I believe in. Freedom. Seems like such a simple word and simple concept. Allow people the right to be well people, with some limitations. Yet every day we take that freedom for granted. Some of us even take for granted the very people who protect that freedom. Our military. I for one know that I couldn’t be in the military. I don’t like guns, not the guns are evil and guns kill people route. (Cause I know guns don’t kill people, people kill people) but just that guns make me nervous. So that and the fact that I’m not a really good runner solidify the fact that I couldn’t be in the military. My brother is in the military, my cousin is in the military, my grandfathers were in the military and my uncles and father are retired from the military. Granted it’s the National Guard, but hey, now a days, military is military. National Guardsmen are no longer just the weekend warriors they’ve been in the past.
Back to my original thought. Sorry got off track for a minute there. These men were in their 30’s, some younger than that. They were my age. Yet now they were gone and unable to achieve even more greatness. And what am I doing? Working an 8-5 job, visiting family and friends and making no difference in the world around me. I don’t recycle, I use a lot of air conditioning (hello Deep South here!!) and I drink a bottle of water a day during the work week. I’m not married and have no kids. So how can I go about making a difference in the world around me so that I at least feel like I’ve made an impact in the world, my country, my state or at the very least my hometown? That I don’t know. But I’m going to find a way to do it.
As I sit hear reading on CNN about the soldiers we lost on the deadliest day since the war in Afghanistan started, I’m struck by a realization. Some of those men were my age or close to my age and yet they seemed so much older than me. They have accomplished so much in their young lives and contributed more to the world than I would ever be able to. I mean how can I contribute more than a soldier who died in action on his way to rescue other soldiers each fighting for something that I believe in. Freedom. Seems like such a simple word and simple concept. Allow people the right to be well people, with some limitations. Yet every day we take that freedom for granted. Some of us even take for granted the very people who protect that freedom. Our military. I for one know that I couldn’t be in the military. I don’t like guns, not the guns are evil and guns kill people route. (Cause I know guns don’t kill people, people kill people) but just that guns make me nervous. So that and the fact that I’m not a really good runner solidify the fact that I couldn’t be in the military. My brother is in the military, my cousin is in the military, my grandfathers were in the military and my uncles and father are retired from the military. Granted it’s the National Guard, but hey, now a days, military is military. National Guardsmen are no longer just the weekend warriors they’ve been in the past.
Back to my original thought. Sorry got off track for a minute there. These men were in their 30’s, some younger than that. They were my age. Yet now they were gone and unable to achieve even more greatness. And what am I doing? Working an 8-5 job, visiting family and friends and making no difference in the world around me. I don’t recycle, I use a lot of air conditioning (hello Deep South here!!) and I drink a bottle of water a day during the work week. I’m not married and have no kids. So how can I go about making a difference in the world around me so that I at least feel like I’ve made an impact in the world, my country, my state or at the very least my hometown? That I don’t know. But I’m going to find a way to do it.
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