Last week at a dinner I was privileged to hear several speakers who touched my inner being with their words. One of the speakers was Ron Suskind, author and journalist from Washington, DC. He talked about his first book, "A Hope in the Unseen, An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League," as part of his presentation. In the course of discussing the people with whom he talked in researching the book he found the expression, "good enough choices."
Every person makes choices in life every day. Some choose to be drug dealers while others pursue a college education. Some choose to send troops into foreign countries while others choose to protest those actions. In the end every person chooses his or her actions for reasons that are good enough for the moment or for the situation.
I find a measure of real sadness in this reality. To choose what is "good enough" and not to strive for what is best in all affairs is a tragedy. If our nation were to take on the task of seeking the very best in all actions and in all states of being what a wonderful new world we would find on awakening every day. If all of us work every day not for what is good enough, but instead aim for the stars and work to attain the highest levels and to hold others to those expectations we can begin to see the change in time. Once again, the ripples become a tsunami in time.
So long as our world is built on good enough reasons we will always fall short of any greatness that may have been. Did Alexander the Great settle for good enough? Or what about Abraham Lincoln? Suppose Lincoln had settled for good enough in his Gettysburg address. Would those words then be burned into the memory of every American school student? Would Lincoln even have made the address knowing other orators were to be present? Would their presence be good enough reason for Lincoln to forego the trek?
How do we go about making this change in our society? What can we do to help people see the light and work for better lives and better circumstances for all? What about education? Can we begin by asking our children to be the best student possible for themselves? Or will we settle for good enough and ask them to work to pass the test at the end of the year as the only reason for going to school? Are we giving our world its due when we settle for good enough reasons in educating our future leaders?
Today we have a Congress and an administration settling for what seems to me to be a great deal less than good enough reasons. We must hold them to the task day by day and press for better on their parts. And then we should press even harder to get things moving to the highest plane. The same principle goes for our Dem Presidential candidates. We can do no less that push for their best in all affairs if we are to gain more than good enough in the end. I love my keyboard and my sofa, but if I fail to move onto the streets I am finding good enough reasons and that is not right.
I cannot speak for any one of you, but you may rest assured good enough reasons are not enough for me and mine today. My household members are working every day to see our country change. We will not settle for "good enough reasons" around here. Only the very best will do in our lives. We are making ripples but we alone cannot sustain a tusnami. Every one of us needs to pull together to make sure we get the very best our country has to offer in all its affairs. Together we are strong. We can stand together or we will fall apart for "good enough reasons."
Shameless campaign plug:
Please remember the there are Kossacks running for Congress in '08. All need your support in terms of time and money. Please visit the campaign websites for Ron Shepston, Gilda Reed, and myself, the possum. Others, too, need your support. Give time or money, but put yourself into these races to insure we are better than good enough.
My personal campaign can use online volunteers to perform search functions and for issue research. If you are available and interested please sign up. Thank you one and all.