Maybe it is time for Joy

I originally had the idea for this post early morning a few days ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t write it then because of the shooting of the Congressman and others. So, I do want to wish everyone that was injured a speedy recovery and hope that whatever drew this person to commit this heinous act can be spoken about so this does not happen again. Everyone knows I am not a Trump supporter, yet we still need to deal with just the issues and lose the hatred that permeates in parts of our society now.

Back to the original idea. I always hope that I can find joy just in everyday living, yet there are times when having a significant amount of extra cash is wonderful. Sure, I want a nice car or house. Yet, what really drives my desire for extra money is traveling. The wonders of our world both manmade and natural everyone should be able to enjoy. One of the reasons I seem so dedicated to my political beliefs is that every human has the right to enjoy life. And yes, sometimes going out costs money. I do not think everyone wants to be rich, nor do I believe it is a right for wealth. It is a right to have the opportunity to be the best person you can and to be able to enjoy life to its fullest. Our Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the Constitution spell this out much better than I.

To achieve the best possibilities for ourselves, we must continue to strive to be better as individuals and as a society. And to experience joy, we need the opportunity to fulfill ourselves intellectually, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and with each other. When these opportunities are taken away from us, we lose as individuals and as a society.  Additionally, we can experience joy through living life and experiencing it at every opportunity. And that is one reason I like to travel. And not to mention eating tons of new food.

Traveling allows us to meet other people, learn about various cultures, and as mentioned just see and behold what exists on this planet. Not to travel is not to embrace our humanity. Or as a much better writer than myself once put it: “The World Is a Book and Those Who Do Not Travel Read Only One Page". And this quote is attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo who, if he made this quote, wrote this when most people didn’t have the opportunity to read as much as we do today. Interesting.

So, I hope to continue to write about better ideas for us politically to hopefully spur in us the need to make a better society. Maybe mine might work, maybe you will find better. Either way we must expend the effort to improve our education, improve the current national dialogue, close the wealth gap and many other endeavors so people have opportunity. Failure to continue to improve from generation to generation is, well…. just failure. 

And traveling gives joy. It expands our horizons. It brings us closer together. We should look at each other, square in the eye and see each other for the wonderful humans we are, faults and all. Nothing is ever perfect, yet not going out into the world deprives us of everything that has been given to us.  So, pick up your knapsack, backpack, suitcase, carry on, make up case, shopping bag, and yourself to head out into the world. If you go with an open mind, you will be rewarded beyond your belief.

Additionally, the better half and I experienced a wonderful moment and received a gift of a plane ride around Dallas recently. I included a couple of pictures to hopefully spur you to be a bit more adventurous.