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Gakked from RadarRider:
Two years ago yesterday, Ronald Reagan died. The Patriot Post had several quotes by him or related to him today in honor of the anniversary of his passing. One in particular I thought was worth repeating.
"And I hope that someday your children and grandchildren will tell of the time that a certain president came to town at the end of a long journey and asked their parents and grandparents to join him in setting America on the course to the new millennium—and that a century of peace, prosperity, opportunity, and hope followed. So, if I could ask you just one last time: Tomorrow, when mountains greet the dawn, would you go out there and win one for the Gipper?" —Ronald Reagan
</gakkage>
That's one hell of a challenge. Sadly, it is one that most of us (myself included) have rarely been willing to take on -- to "root-hog-or-die" not for our own benefit in easily-measurable things like our bank accounts, but for intangibles such as the ones listed above, and for everyone instead of just for ourselves.
I like to think that some of the work that I do teaching martial arts helps contribute to these things for my students. I know that I have become a much more peaceful person as a result, and that my optimism levels (hope) are higher as well, and I hope that my students have been able to take these things away with them as well. I don't know that there's been much change on the prosperity or opportunity fronts, but then, no one tool is appropriate for every problem.
Two years ago yesterday, Ronald Reagan died. The Patriot Post had several quotes by him or related to him today in honor of the anniversary of his passing. One in particular I thought was worth repeating.
"And I hope that someday your children and grandchildren will tell of the time that a certain president came to town at the end of a long journey and asked their parents and grandparents to join him in setting America on the course to the new millennium—and that a century of peace, prosperity, opportunity, and hope followed. So, if I could ask you just one last time: Tomorrow, when mountains greet the dawn, would you go out there and win one for the Gipper?" —Ronald Reagan
</gakkage>
That's one hell of a challenge. Sadly, it is one that most of us (myself included) have rarely been willing to take on -- to "root-hog-or-die" not for our own benefit in easily-measurable things like our bank accounts, but for intangibles such as the ones listed above, and for everyone instead of just for ourselves.
I like to think that some of the work that I do teaching martial arts helps contribute to these things for my students. I know that I have become a much more peaceful person as a result, and that my optimism levels (hope) are higher as well, and I hope that my students have been able to take these things away with them as well. I don't know that there's been much change on the prosperity or opportunity fronts, but then, no one tool is appropriate for every problem.
