america the beautiful

I would go as far as to say that everyone in the world likes at least one holiday. While I cant speak much for people I dont know, I can say that as a whole, the United States likes holidays a LOT. Stores are constantly inundated with shelves of holiday garb--whether it be candy, fireworks or plastic Santa's. The US celebrates holidays that arent really holidays (as I believe) like Valentines Day and some others. 

When it comes to Independence Day though, the stores and the people fall short. A small display of sparklers sits by the cash register and hamburgers and hot dogs are sold by the thousands, but why is nothing else done for what I consider one of the most important holidays?

The fourth is celebrating our independence as a country, the people that have fought and died for this country and i think, recognizing and being thankful that we are still a free country.

People come to America because we are free and have many freedoms allowed to us as citizens. Every person in this country can be said to be living an American Dream. Heck, the American Dream idea was created for people who come here for freedom and difference.

If you dont know, The American Dream: "... is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of prosperity and success. In the American Dream, first expressed by James Truslow Adams in 1931, citizens of every rank feel that they can achieve a "better, richer, and happier life."^[1] The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence which states that "all men are created equal" and that they are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights" including "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."^{[2] {source}}

Although there are some things about America that I personally don’t agree with, I am definitely proud to be an American. Life here is so much different from other places and I feel lucky to be a person that was born in the US and raised here and to have been able to take advantage of all the freedoms allowed. We don’t fly the stripes and stars from our home, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate what we have.

Many a times, I don’t think people that have lived in the United States their whole lives realize what a privilege it is to live in a place like this—there are so many things that we take for granted because they have always been there.

Our society has made the 4^th not even close to what it is actually about. Cookouts and swimming having nothing to do with it. It should be more about thanking those that came before us for the freedom we have to gather and watch displays of light in the sky among other things.

I hope that you will join me today in thinking of at least one thing you are grateful for that America provides you and I hope you had a wonderful holiday.