America isn’t perfect, but it’s a wonderful place
There’s one thing the majority of Americans probably agree on—it’s been a long political season that started with the primaries last year. There have been times this year that the America portrayed in the media wasn’t the one I recognized.
America isn’t perfect, and there are problems that need to be fixed—many that could be fixed if Congress did a better job of negotiating instead of grandstanding. But despite our problems, America is a wonderful place. Today, on Election Day, I want to share a few things on my “What’s Right in America List”—and yes, some of the things on this list are works in progress. As I mentioned, it’s a what’s right list not a what’s perfect list:
What’s Right In America
- Our democracy, from voting to the transfer of power to the newly elected leaders and parties, has historically been civil. Our votes give us a say in what direction our country is going.
- Unemployment is low—yes, you may have to update your skill sets or move, but our country has job opportunities. You can have a midlife career change whenever you want.
- Entrepreneurship has never been easier thanks to the Internet. Some people actually make a living by being themselves online. Who’d have thought this could be a career ten years ago?
- Medical treatment is available.
- Our public servants—the people like our police officers and firefighters—go to work every day to make sure we have a safe place to live.
- Education—if you want to learn, you can at any age.
- Our diversity means you can learn about other countries and places from someone who’s actually lived there. In most cases, you just need to meet more of your neighbors. This gives us great restaurants to eat at
- With religious freedom, you can be as religious as you want as long as you respect the fact that your religion isn’t everyone else’s.
- Our weather people do a pretty good job of letting us know when we need to hunker down for dangerous storms.
- We get excited when a team like the Cubs win the World Series after a long dry spell—with the understandable exception of Cleveland fans.
These are just a few of the things that are right in America—they are on my daily gratitude list with a few others. I love America. It’s my home. I see more things right about America than not—sometimes we take the things that are right for granted and we need to take a few moments to notice them.
I challenge you to make your own “what’s right” list about what you love about your country.
[Tweet “America isn’t perfect. But, America is wonderful! #TGIO #ElectionDay”]
Written by Pamela Gail
Pamela Gail Johnson founded the Society of Happy People in 1998.
The Society is grounded on Pamela’s four key Practical Happiness Principles:
Pamela identified 31 Types of Happiness that are on the SOHP App Happiness Counter to make it easier to recognize moments of happiness.
Pamela also plans and organizes the Society of Happy People's annual happiness celebrations:
She's also a speaker, trainer, and author.
A few of her personal smile starters include her monthly book club, yoga, traveling and meeting new happy people.