“Be safe” is the new mantra we hear today, and while I certainly agree that stepping in front of a mack truck doesn’t seem like the wisest way to enjoy one’s day, I do agree with Ronald Reagan's “give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with joy.”
The past year has been wrought with fear, often amplified by misinformation. We have seen things that have shocked us, as we watched cities burn and people turn on their neighbors. Lack of respect for authority runs rampant to the point that many feel afraid of the very communities they grew up in.
With all that is happening, it’s easy to fall back, quietly hide in the shadows, and wait for someone to come along who will reignite the spark which still warms the patriot’s breast. But often, the one who needs to come along is actually you. You are your best ignition.
Unfortunately, risk is an inherent part of living. Every breath brings some new danger (with or without a mask), and every time one gets in the car to go to the store, it is quite possible they will never see home again.
Does that mean that we shouldn’t go buy groceries? No, it simply means that we must take agency and look towards hope rather than let ourselves be governed by fear.
From the blood-stained snow of Valley Forge, to the soot of Antietam, to the strafe-wracked decks of the unsuspecting Arizona and the fiery shreds of the Challenger spacecraft, risk is as much a part of American ideals as the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “Let those flatter who fear; it is not an American art.” Mark Twain echoed an adjacent sentiment, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”
We have seen victories in the Texas legislature this year, even if we haven't seen all the victories for which we at Convention of States had hoped and worked towards.
No matter the circumstances, COS is right by our principles and correct in our constitutional grounds. We should never fear fighting for what is right another day. Let’s remember the advice President Reagan shared with school children upon their witnessing of the Challenger’s fate:
“The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.”
