Often, I’m told by folks frustrated with current levels of government overreach, overspending, and outright violation of the Constitution, “There’s nothing I can do about it. My vote doesn’t count, my voice doesn’t matter, I’m just one person.”
I can certainly understand that feeling and I have felt it myself from time to time. Years ago, my company sent me off to a seminar. At the seminar I picked up a book by Jack Canfield, who also authored the “Chicken Soup” series of books. One of his quotes is “The universe rewards action.” I have applied that to my personal life, as well as my professional life, and now I see it as essential to any grass roots movement such as the Convention of States.
I’m also very conscious of a responsibility that I feel for the younger generations coming along behind me who will have to live with what we’ve left them. I’m rather proud of how my kids speak about me, most of the time. One little quote that I especially enjoy is “Dad, don’t you ever get sick of being right?” Another is “If Dad can’t fix it, it can’t be fixed.” In fact, for my last birthday, my daughter found a card that said exactly that.
I, like many of you reading this, have children and grandchildren that will inherit this mess or worse if we don’t do something. When I look at what was handed down to my generation and how it compares to where we are today, I shudder to think of what I might say to my granddaughter if she ever looked me in the eye and said “Grandpa, what happened? Why didn’t you do something?”
I’m reminded of the movie “Patton” and the soliloquy full of quotable lines he offered to motivate his troops. Patton’s hypothetical "Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II, you won't have to say 'Well... I shoveled (manure) in Louisiana."
We all know that the movement of a large group of people is difficult to create overnight. The challenge we are accepting is to move the legislatures of at least 34 states and we all know the speed in which most government processes move. The good news is that we are more than halfway there and building momentum. We need more and more folks to push a little or a lot depending on their individual situations and abilities.
If you haven’t already, please go to conventionofstates.com and sign the petition. It might be the signature that pushes your legislator to move. Make a donation if you can, it might be the dollar or two that gets the attention we need. Or better yet, volunteer, or look into where you might be valuable in a leadership role. Let's make sure we are being admired by future generations for what we did instead of trying to explain why we did nothing.
