Americans – The Beautiful

I have traveled the world quite a bit and have seen Americans passing through foreign customs actually apologizing for being Americans when displaying their passports. This simply breaks my heart. Americans are the most open, friendly, generous, fun loving, optimistic and courageous people on the planet. Unfortunately most of the world sees us much differently.

If somebody visited from another planet what they would see at first glance is a society that consumes more that the rest of the world, pollutes more than any other country and has held in high regard, a repeated child

molester (Michael Jackson), set free two celebrity murderers (O.J. Simpson/Robert Blake), who’s most popular TV show humiliates and berates its participants (American Idol) and has supported several violent dictators and rouge leaders worldwide. But, this isn’t who most Americans are. And we Americans should understand that this is not what we represent but who unfortunately represents us.

On a recent trip to New Zealand one of the Kiwis commented on Americans. He said “You Americans… you think anything is possible.” Americans do see the possibility in all things. We turn lemons to lemonade and drink it in a glass that is always half full.

This past summer while I was on business in New York I had a few hours to kill and I went on a ferry ride to Ellis Island. Like 92% of all American’s my family can trace their history to this small man made island outside of the towering skyline of beautiful Manhattan. I read some of the journal entries of these immigrants and I was truly moved by the hope and enthusiasm they had for moving to “The New World”.

In the past decade Americans have seen a deadly attack on their soil, American soldiers lost in Afghanistan and Iraq, repeated political and corporate scandals and media created hysteria. This has polarized us as a people, dividing us into right and left, conservative and liberal, democrat and republican. But, this can stop. We can make a change and chart a new course because we are American’s darn it and for us anything is possible. And the world knows this.
I for one see change on the horizon. I see lemons being made into lemonade, glasses being half full and I see our darkest hours just before dawn. We are after all one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

About the author:
Thom King is the President of Steviva Brands, Inc. Steviva manufactures and distributes Stevia powder, Stevia blend, Organic Stevia leaves and Organic Yerba Mate Green Tea. Subscribe to King's newsletters, Mind, Body and Spirit and Low Carb Living Go to http://www.steviva.com for more information.