Gratitude for the United States!

Today is The United State's birthday, and I thought that in honor of that we should spend a few minutes talking about what we might be grateful for that the United States has brought to the world. Beginning with, a couple of hundred years ago, the independence of the United States from Britain. The establishment of a free country with a Declaration of Independence and a Bill of Rights has provided a model for people around the world to stand up to tyrants and monarchs and establish self government. I think this is one of the greatest things the United States has brought to the world.

Prosperity and Abundance

Second, the United States has helped usher in one of the most prosperous times in the history of the world. Some people  say there's a big gap in wealth distribution, that's true, and we can work to do some things about that. However the fact is that every person on the planet is in a better state of abundance because of the free market economies and the freedom that the United States has helped usher in on the world scene.

Creativity Cauldron

Third, The United States is a cauldron of creativity for entrepreneurs. People come from all around the world to live here to have the freedom to create. And the United States has created some things that are benefiting the world in enormous ways including things like the internet, the personal computer, and the mobile phone. All these things are ubiquitous in our world today and help people communicate, stay in touch, be more productive, etc.

In addition, there are things that maybe you don't think about that came out of the United States such as GPS, lasers, assembly lines, microwave ovens, things like that. Also, there has been a lot of innovation in the healthcare field including things like chemotherapy, hearing aids, and defibrillators. These are just a few examples of things that have come out of the United States that are benefiting everybody in the entire world.

Beacon to the World

The United States continues to be a beacon of hope for the world. We have the Statue of Liberty in New York, which was given to us by France, and one of the great things that I love about the Statue of Liberty is that beacon, the torch that she holds up to the world. It says, "Come to our country. Come to our shores. Come to the United States, to a place of freedom, to build your life, to build your business, and to raise your family."

This call to the world continues to be true. In fact ,my wife was originally born in the Philippines, and she always, even as a young girl, had a dream of moving to the United States and taking part in what's going on here. She had the opportunity during the dot com boom, she is a computer programmer, to get to the United States on an H1B work visa,. Eventually get her green card, and now she's a citizen. She's very happy to live here. She changed her entire life, and it's benefiting her family back home in the Philippines too.

My wife is just one example of many. When we went to her ceremony to become a citizen, I was astounded by the event! There were thousands of people in this big amphitheater type setting that represented well over 100 countries from around the world. It was a truly amazing event to experience. If you've never been to a naturalization ceremony, it's really something you should take the time and go to see how many people are actually coming into the United States to live here and create the life of their dreams!

What do you think?

Whether you're a US citizen or not, some of you I know are overseas consuming this blog, let me know what you think the United States means from your perspective? From a perspective of gratitude, what are you thankful for the United States? Put all the issues and problems aside that the United States may be causing or be a part of, and we'll go to work on those. Fo now, just take a moment to have some gratitude on this day of independence for the United States, and let me know what you think in the comments.

We'll talk to you next week. Have a great week.