Three Things Unite U.S.

By Bob Cox

Life, liberty and the pursuit of... what was that third thing, oh yeah the pursuit of happiness. This is a fundamental part of our nation’s heritage, dating back to the birth of our beautiful country and infamously written in the Declaration of Independence 12 score and one year ago.

So, are these the three things (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) that I’m convinced unites every American? No. I believe that there are three even more compelling things that connect every human being north of dirt on this spectacular tiny blue orb we call earth. Without further ado, here they are...

1. Happiness: First things first, I think we can all agree that everyone wants to feel more of the good stuff, more joy, peace and yes, happiness. But honestly, do we merely want to just pursue it? Of course not; we want it and we want it now! I have found that during my pathetic little lifetime that the longer I’ve pursued something and didn’t get it, the more frustrated and miserable I became. How’s that for tragic irony!

2. Problems: The second thing we all share is a never ending supply of problems. They seem to come at us like ocean waves. Just when we dove under or glided above the last swell, another one is seconds away from smashing us to smithereens. “When will the madness finally end?” you may be thinking to yourself. I don’t know the answer to that but my prediction is this: As long as we have air in our lungs, our problems are likely just a breath away.

3. Solutions: Since every sane person wants to be happier and we all have problems that get in the way of experiencing greater euphoria, what is the one thing that can help us get what we want more than life itself? We all want the answers to every problem that sabotages our sense of well being. So, logic dictates the better we become at solving our problems, the happier we’ll be.

Whenever we’re faced with a new and vexing challenge, there are only three ways to respond: With uncontrollable fear, supreme confidence or some unsettling gray area between those two extremes.

Let’s imagine that you’re home alone, in the middle of a dark and stormy Halloween night when you’re awaked by a thunderous pounding at the front door. Swallowing your fear while submerged in darkness, you open the door and see a terrifying menace of mayhem towering over you, sporting a ski mask and brandishing a chainsaw while swearing obscenities at you. Unless you happen to be Rambo, Buzz Lightyear or certifiably insane, chances are good that overwhelming fear will overtake your sense of calm.

Now image that same Halloween night as you’re watching another hysterical rerun of Seinfeld in your favorite chair. Between the laughs, you hear a feint tapping at your door and as you open it, a tiny version of Jason from Friday the 13^th shyly squeaks out those infamous three little words that make Halloween, well Halloween: “Twick or Tweet”. Chances are more than good that you will respond with supreme confidence, as long as you remembered to stock up on those sugary little “tweets”.

With this in mind, our goal is to help all of our readers and eventually every person on the planet find greater joy and happiness. To achieve this lofty mission, we’ll be reaching out to local business owners to let them share what they’ve done to solve problems and achieve greater joy. I believe the more we learn how others have overcome obstacles, the stronger and more confident we’ll be when we see the next wave is looming on the horizon or hear the sound of opportunity knocking at our front door.