In the United States of America, July 4th is the day we celebrate our independence. But let’s take a step back and think about what happened on July 4th, 1776. That was the day that the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence. Tensions with British rule had been growing for years, but the American Revolutionary War was only just beginning. It would not be until October 1781 that the British forces surrender, and the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the war, was not signed until September 1783. The US constitution was not completed until 1787, and was not adopted until 1788.
Let’s think about that – The annual celebration of our Independence as a nation, an enormous national holiday, is not held on the day we won the war, the day the peace treaty was signed, nor the day we adopted our core structure of government. The day we celebrate as our Independence Day is the day our Founding Leaders stood up and declared “We The People…”
They did not have a plan.
They did not have permission.
They knew they were starting a fight they were not sure they could win.
And they did it anyway.
Sometime the act that takes the most courage – that deserves the most celebration – is just standing up and publicly committing to changing. There will be many hard-fought battles to come. There will be trials and set-backs along the way. There will be a need to commit to a specific plan of action.
The most important step in creating a better future – for ourselves, our families, our communities – is committing to pursue our vision of what that future holds.
