Teach your kiddos what the significance of what happened 247 years ago today (or around this time, give or take a few days, weeks), when a group of very smart and brave men, some of the brightest and the best of their time, risked it all, their livelihood, the lives of themselves and their families, to sign a Declaration of Independence from the British Crown, the taxes and harassment. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they weighed the risks and decided that it was "give me liberty or give me death," as Patrick Henry famously said, around this time. As they signed the document, there was not jubilant celebration, but rather, somber quiet as these men knew what they were doing could be considered high treason and, there was a chance that they could be signing their death warrant for all to know who was behind this Declaration to separate from the British Crown. Benjamin Rush described it as a pensive and awful silence as they each knew what was at stake. Consider how serious this was.
Leading up to the official signing, there was back and forth between the delegates to the Continental Congress. Delaware, New York, South Carolina and Pennsylvania delegates were the last to agree, but eventually, they all came to the agreement that there was no other way to move forward. It needed to be, from here on in all about the TEAM. They knew it would be difficult as they did not have a decorated army, but rather a ban of militia men, minute men, who didn't fight in formal European fashion with fancy red coats, but rather what they had using guerrilla warfare, the Colonies just didn't have the resources of the British Army. The Colonies were low on funds and supplies, but there was a will to fight for freedom for their future and for that of their children.
Anything worth achieving in life, most always involves a TEAM and a TEAM effort. Likewise, any victory is never achieved solo, it is about the TEAM, working together hand and hand. University of Michigan Football Coach, Bo Schembechler said it so eloquently yet simply, it's all about THE TEAM, in his famous locker room speech, "THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM." You make it about the TEAM and not about yourself and surly the chances of success are greatly improved. Look at any major sports team, any successful company, organization or family. The common denominator in their success is the strength and support of a TEAM. In the early beginnings of what would become the United States of America, it was about a group of men, a group of families, a group of individuals, who put their lives at risk for the greater good of freedom. Back in 1776, 247 years ago, it was about THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM. If it hadn't been, it would have been hard to take on the powerful British Crown.
Maybe that's what's missing today, The Team, The Team, The Team, philosophy and working for what's BEST for all of American. Not looking at our country being made up of this group and that group, but rather a group of individual citizens that mostly want similar things, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, safety and opportunities for our children. There are good and bad apples on both sides of the equation today. Possibly the best choices for leaders today are those who want the BEST for the American TEAM and not what's best for themselves. Why can't we hire/vote for the BEST? When a coach recruits members of a team, they look for the strongest who are willing to work as a team. They don't look for a certain amount of players who represent this group and that group, a coach needs the best, regardless of where they come from or who they are. When a team has success there is a reward, whether a National Championship, a Super Bowl or other honors. We should look at selecting our leaders as an opportunity to seek out the BEST for the job. Americans used to set the bar high for everyone and the rest of the world knew it. To lower the bar means that we all loose in quality and expectations. If those who signed the Declaration of Independence hadn't set the bar high and risked it all, it wouldn't have been just our President, Joe Biden, who would be saying (or singing) "God Save the Queen" (or King), but we all might be singing it today rather than "God Bless America." Maybe it's time we take some lessons from those brave early Americans who risked it all. Who knows, it just might make for some Great Days!
