Being Anxious To Engage - A Must for Americans!
57A Moment In Time
Walk Your Path, Engaged
Plant Good Seeds
What Is Written On Your Pages of Life?
Are You A Life Saver?
While We Slept...
Who Chose the Right?
Everyday, America lives and dies. Elected officials sell our votes, or do the right thing. Soldiers obey commanders, ordered by government officials, who do or don't do, the right thing. Teens sneak out, or stay home and do the right thing. Teens go out, and fall, or do the right thing. Parents parent by impulse, or think and do the right thing.
From Board Members, to CEO's, to workers and co-workers, we steal hours or put in our time, perhaps do a bit more, doing the right thing.
Our life is full of demands, tasks, pressures, requests, and time constraints. Bills, money worries, high prices, foreign fears, family stress, soldiers in danger.
What can one person do? We can't do it all, but we can make a difference!
How? Where do we begin? It is easier to do nothing. It is easier to let your neighbor vote, let them help another or be engaged in that service project. It is easier to gripe, to worry, to fear and complain. I know, I do it, too.
No one likes changes...but change is part of life.
Are you worried about the price increases and our government elected officials who have forgotten the meaning of service and seem corrupt and falling apart? You can make a difference, but only if you become engaged. Turn your anxiety into energy.
Are we involved? Are we anxiously engaged in doing the right thing? Are we watching those we've elected or are we complacently accepting whatever they do....even when it's not the right thing.
You have a voice - you write on hubs. You speak. You have friends. Make a difference. Take 5 minutes and send an email about a concern you have. Write 5 sentences, 1 minute per sentence. It makes a difference.
Here's how I know:
In 1998, I wrote an email to President Bill Clinton. It was a simple email, one that I thought he would never read, and I didn't keep a copy of those now important words that slipped from my golden tongue. I was adamant. I asked him NOT to resign. I said our country did not need that during such tumultuous times. I asked him to be strong, to make up with his family, and to continue to lead our country. Our economic needs were great, our domestic issues must take precedence over his, at least on the national level.
I was not his judge and jury. I did not forgive him nor scold him as he had done me no harm. He was not my moral guide. I had those in my life and church. I was probably a majority of one - if the press was any indication at the time of how people felt.
One month later, I received a beige envelope...it came from 'THE WHITE HOUSE.' "Sure," I thot. "The President, yeah, right." I thought someone was playing a joke on me.
I help up a piece of paper with a simple paragraph of warm thanks from Bill. He talked as if I were in the room. He was thanking me for sending such a positive message to him at this time in his life when it meant so much. It was his personal signature on the bottom "Bill Clinton" -- as if he were my neighbor.
Ok, he probably got the message as his aide ran down the halls of the White House saying "Mr. President, Mr. President, I found one, I found one!"
Meaning, one positive voice, asking him to stay in office, just an American citizen, the voice of one. Maybe the only one at the time and that's how it reached Bill.
I have the letter and it means a lot. . It's locked in a chest, soon to be framed as my piece of history. One voice, mine, for 5 minutes, the President of the United States of America, knew my name.
I never took it to the press or showed it to many...except my kids in care and my own kids that evening.
Their response: "Huh? You got a letter from who, Mom? Ohhh, the President. Uh huh, well that's great." quick smile. "Hey, Mom, you did say I can go out tonight, right? I need this shirt ironed but I think the iron is broken because I knocked it off in the floor and now it won't turn on."
Sorry, Bill. You were upstaged by a teen date and the need for good grooming. I tried.
One voice mattered. Did he not stay in office? (Dare I claim too much credit, but you get the point...) The rest is history.
Write your letter. I see many people on hub pages are so concerned about our domestic economics and our wars. Speak. You make a difference. Once you've spoken, get back to home business. It's a demanding world out there!!
Be Anxiously Engaged in Your Life! You matter.
What Matters To You?
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Now that I "know" people here, I felt more confident to put the pic up. thank you!! I don't think people even notice it yet. LOL and yes, you matter and everything we do is etched in the pages of life... I want a big eraser when it comes to reading mine!!! ouch! So, write to someone everytime you can about everything that matters to you. and watch the changes it will bring!!
Great hub. And I'll bet Bill got more than just one voice of support. He was, and still is, very popular.
When Obama gets into office I'll wait to see what he does. Then, if I have a concern, or simply want to thank him for being a good president, I'll write. But, not now. Not to Bush. Not only would he never see it (would MY letter of disgust over his gross ineptness be singled out from the many hundreds of thousands?), he would not be able to read it is he did.
Great! WE all need all the reminders we can get that each of us is a vital voice in our society! Like the new pic too! My photo is a compromise of the "real me" and hiding from strangers behind those big dark glasses. BEST to you and success with your hubs!
he worries me... and Cheney. so controlling and Bush brings the fairy tale of the emperor with no clothes on to mind. I still here bush interrupting that reporter saying "You're predicting $4.00 gas? I hadn't heard that." I'm so tempted to send him a picture of the gas sign down the street...$4.10 maybe he can read that.
eeek
he makes me so mad!!
He reminds me, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, very much of Hitler.
hey there desert blondie. THANKS for reading and commenting and for liking my pic!!! thot it was time.
Our voice matters and we never know sometimes as we don't always get feedback just doing the right thing will make a difference...
Doing the right thing is something I do for myself, and sometimes for others, when the opportunity arises, 'cause I care. But, most of the time, there's no one around to witness. It just feels good. Makes me feel noble...
Thank you so much for helping me to remember what I've learned over many years of recovery - both from my oun addictions and from violence and abuse from others - that I always have choice and I am responsible for working as hard and as long as it takes to "changing the things I can" . The US has been taken over by a new and different breed: truely EVIL people - not merely ones who are fallable and sometimes sometimes foolish.
I am resolving to action any way I can to be part of the change that must take place if this country and world are to survive. My greatest fear is that "they" already have so much power and control - and the ability to manipulate the masses so effectively using fear (another 9/11?) and lies that it may be TOO LATE for the "free election" process to remedy it. I fear we are already OWNED - and I hope to goddess I am wrong.
I the next election does not bring real change - and fast - I really believe that THERE WILL BE BLOOD! Perhaps there's hope that another Ghandi or Martin Luther King would emerge to inspire the millions of good people here to "lay their bodies down" and bring the machine to a STOP!
In the meantime, I'm taking your lead and gearing up to give this upcoming campaign all I've got.
Excellent comments, Marina, and I think your fears are very founded. I have a deep fear of Bush/Cheney manipulating and/or forcing their way into another term (9/11). If that happens, the only thing that will remove them from power is, as terrifying as this is, another American Revolution... and yes, "THERE WILL BE BLOOD."
Marisuewrites I also like the picture of the real you. What you are writing about is of course the butterfly effect. If a butterfly flutters its wings in Japan it could be the beginning of a storm in Antartica. One lone voice is the start. Every journey begins with one single step. Human beings started naked and afraid. Today we can land a machine on mars and take Photos. William Shakespeare wrote with a goosefeather and soot in water, we write hubs on electrical impulses borne through the ether and share them on light emitting devices which are far from what Edison could have imagined when he invented the light bulb (after many many failures).
Thought provoking hub.
Constant, "right on!" =)
Marina - thank you so much for reading and I'm glad you're willing to get involved. A simple letter once or twice a week can make such a difference in our world. People in power respond to people who have the power, and that's US.
Hang in there....you are doing very well and good luck to you...come back soon! =)
Constant, I fear....you might be right...but I hope we can change things with votes not bullets, but it's worrisome
sixtyorso.... a butterfly storm awaits I think. You are very wise. Have we advanced ourselves into a corner? Changing the world where we are, is a start...even if we fall over the cliff...we will have done what we could -- thank you so much for reading from across the world....it brings me smiles to know someone in Africa reads my words, and I - theirs. =) Marisue
A letter from Bill...nice. I am in total agreement with you.If we want change we must speak up and out for it.I did not care about his personal life what he did and whom he did it with.I firmly believed he could've been an agent of change.I am not naive enough to believe politicians don't lie 'cause they do. They are also very human,humans make poor choices.He made poor choices...such is life.During the Convention in Texas a few months ago In my precint I had an opportunity to actively participate in the process as never before.I am an elected delegate.I had the chance to request an amendment to a proposal that was on the floor.It was defeated,and I am okay with that, in that I had the courage and mind to speak for something I believed strongly in.A closed mouth never gets fed.
A great article and example of how one voice can emotionally stir another
anna, I am so gald you are active and made an effort for change!! From the ashes of defeat rise new ideas and progress. Keep on goin!! Pres Clinton madehorrible personal choices..power is an addiction and fake insulator -- still I think he was better for the country than we even realized at the time...altho I didn't agree with every policy. And, I don't care who was president, to get a response had it's own addiction for me hahaha ya know? thank you so much for reading and commenting come back soon!
Dottie1 -- our voices can be heard for years after we speak when we do it in writing....thank you for reading and commening!! come back soon!
I like what Annaw said...a closed mouth never gets fed. In a similar vein, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So let's open up our mouths and get squeaking! Marisue, you made it so easy for us to do: 5 sentences, 5 minutes, and that awesome link to the U.S. House of Representatives locator.
If we sit on our dupas, we have no right to complain when things don't go our way. That's my motto!
My mother used to say that voting was her right to gripe. It's true. Thanks again Sally for reading and commenting. I say "Fill up the Congress with so much paper they'll have to extend their sessions!" I think it'll scare them to death to realize we're watching!
=)
Marisue, when we fill them up with that much paper, I can't wait to see C-SPAN's live coverage of the House floor. All tables will be looking like your old desk! Great new pic. :)
Fan Mail for Congress. It'll hit the "fan" alright! LOL Yep, I miss that ol desk!! haha thanks -- putting up the picture took courage but I feel at home on HUB now.
You know what I think? I think it's the small things that matter, the small acts of kindness in a world going crazy, saying thankyou to the check out girl in the supermarket, asking after someone's health, being concerned about your neighbour, listening to other people's troubles, and caring a little bit. My guess is that you are exactly this kind of person, and you already matter.
You are write and right CJ!! We can make a difference, one little starfish at a time by all the little caring things we can do...to our loved ones and to strangers.
Are you familiar with the old story about the starfish? If not, comment back and I'll tell it you, if you like to be told stories. I still do... =) thank you for the complilment by the way.
It's a short story... =)
Hi marisuewrites, yes, tell me a story...
"...Once Upon a Time... (See how good I am) a traveller saw a woman walking on a beach. Every few steps she would bend over and pick a starfish up from the sand and throw it back in the ocean. The sandy beach was littered with hundreds of stranded starfish. The traveller did not understand her actions, as she could not pick up all of the starfish. Surely she knew she was wasting her time?
He stopped her, and asked the obvious "What are you doing?" The woman replied calmly that the tide had washed the starfish ashore, and they would die unless she threw them back into the water, as the next tide would not come in time to save them.
The traveller exclaimed "But this beach is miles long, and there are hundreds of stranded starfish. most will die before you can get to them. Do you think throwing back a few starfish is going to make a difference?"
The woman picked up a starfish and looked at it carefully. As she threw it back into the ocean she said "It makes a difference to this one."
And, Most lived happily ever after. The End."
Epitaph: Every good deed makes a difference. Sometimes small things are all that can be done, but they are something.
Tune in tomorrow for more stories, same time, same channel. LOL
Yes, good story. All you can do is to make the differnce you can make. You can't do more than that. It's save a starfish day. Happy solstice marisuewrites
Ok, now, you have to educate me. What is solstice ? your turn for the story. =)
Great story, marisue! Every day should be "Save a Starfish Day".
Yes, CJ, please tell us about Solstice (she says as she removes her wand from her favorite chair and gets comfortable). #:)
isn't he (CJ) great? I'm hooked with his writing, and CJ, we await the tale of Solstice.
I am impressed, marisue and even inspired. Keep up the letter writing. What a gift you are!
Hi Storytelleersrus, thank you and i hope we will all write letters to our Congress and UP. We are all so much more important than we might realize.
Our calm, resonable and respectful voices are needed now more than ever. AND, a sense of humor...to make it all go down a bit more easily. LOL
please come back often...
pgrundy 3 years ago
Mariesue, thank you for this hub. I think about this all the time, about how every minute I'm doing something that doesn't matter is another minute I'm not doing anything to make it better---things are bad now, but if we all believed we could make a difference and acted on that belief, things would change.
By the way, I love your new photo! I love it when people put up their actual photos. You go girl!