I had an epiphany several months back, when I watched the Inauguration of our country's 44th President. Everything in our given lives is about coming from a place of impossible odds and overcoming those challenges as they are presented. For our new President, Barack Obama and his family, it's not really about them being the first African American family to inhabit the White House, but rather that they "defied the odds" in doing so. I liked that. It is how I described my own journey in overcoming Child Abuse. I defied the odds as well, in that I am whole and healthy in spirit, but there are many of us ... in many areas. All of us face some test of defying the odds at some point. Whether it's overcoming current or past abuse, financial and/or emotional tests, drug and alcohol addiction or any number of other things...if we defy the odds...we win!
In my book, I write about how blessed I feel, that in spite of my background...I am relatively unscathed. When I think about it further, I know that it was also positive action on my part. When we overcome statistical odds in our own lives and come out better on the other side...we are "Obama" in our own right. No one chooses to be an Abused Child. Similarly, no one gets to choose their birth parents, sex, skin color, or even nationality. The mere fact that we arrive on this Earth as humans, at all ...is somewhat of a statistical miracle. We arrive from the fertlization of a single sperm finding a single egg. That's defying the odds right there in our own birth.
In this great country of the United States, we also get to choose other things that we take for granted; freedom of speech and freedom of religion are just two. We saw it in action during this past campaign. There are more. We have the freedom to leave our own negative choices and pasts behind us at any time. We have the freedom to pursue an education, and take it to the highest level, similar to our new president, and therefore secure good employment. We have the freedom to help others and give generously of ourselves to make America a better place for all. That follows that we can be a country of givers and not takers. This applies to all of us. It appears we are off to a start in that direction...maybe for the first time. We also have the freedom to stop whining about what we don't have, can't do, or don't like...and make our own changes. The new administration is not going to pay our rent/mortgage, lower gas/food prices, and cure all the other issues facing our country.
When I think of the slogan "Time for a Change" it means that we all have to change in some personal area; this is not a slogan for the new administration alone. Defy the odds, overcome your own challenges and become better with each day. In America, all things are possible. Sue
