Rock Bottom
“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” ~ President Abraham Lincoln
“We must dare to be great; we must realize that greatness lies in toil and sacrifice and high courage.” ~ President Teddy Roosevelt
Today we stand on the precipice of a crossroad in American history that will be remembered for generations to come. On the eve of one of the most contentious election cycles in American history, we as a nation are poised to witness history in the making no matter what the outcome of the final vote tally. History will be made at the hands of the American people tomorrow, November 8th, 2016, period!
What will be the cost of this historic moment on the fabric of America? This election cycle has been the root cause for family and friends to distant themselves or terminate friendships and relationships that took years to build. In a short matter of months, the political machines have turned over our communities like plow share through the prairie grass covered plains. I am very familiar with the cliché saying that you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs but at this point I feel like our communities have been scrambled with the broken shells still in the mix…it’s going to take a long time to get all the shell bits out before anything useful can be made with the eggs. Ok, all metaphors aside, I have real concerns over how we all get back to work with each other to help improve our communities and enrich our lives…together…as a community. We as a nation have become too content to depend on others to help us when we as a community used to help each other…when I think of America being great, I think of when neighbors would lend a hand to help lift each other up not retreat behind walls of fear and distrust. Maybe I’m just being romantically nostalgic.
The theory behind the 12 step program that has helped millions of people recover from alcohol and drug addiction is that before a person is ready to commit themselves to the process of healing and health, they must first hit rock bottom. Rock bottom is the dark and frightening place of hopelessness and despair that ultimately drives the individual to death or to recovery. In my short 47 years here on this planet living in this great country, this is the closest I’ve seen us as a nation to hitting rock bottom. My desires for our country is hope not despair, encouragement not entitlement, compassion not complacency and reaching out to each other not pulling away. I don’t believe for a moment that things are perfect in our society, I’m no naïve babe in the woods, but I do have hope for a better tomorrow if we can try and find common ground today. We have become so polarized and closed minded in our thoughts that some would rather see the world burn than compromise for the greater good and that just makes no sense to me at all.
Tomorrow, we all have a hand in creating a historical day but it is what we do afterwards that will be remembered in history. As always, I thank you for reading and I hope everyone takes advantage of privilege to vote…take care of yourself and each other…at the end of the day, we’re all in this together.
Wm Reid
Best Home Care Services
325 N Eastern Ave
Connersville, IN 47331
765-827-9833
wmreid@bhcshealth.com