Land of the Secure... and the Home of the Wimps?!

It hit me hard while doing some hill sprints yesterday that America is becoming the 'Land of the Secure and the Home of the Wimps!' I was just contemplating on the fact that America was originally supposed to be the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." This means that people who are brave and like freedom live in and will love this country. If someone does not want to be brave, but instead prefers a sedentary, easy, and secure lifestyle where things are taken care of for him, then there are plenty of other places in the world where he would be very happy... or maybe not... enough doers to cover his costs and make him happy? I have to be blunt here. I have been really irritated with Americans as of late. It seems too many people are asking what can be done for them and why things aren't so great for them... as if they are entitled to this stuff! The more I talked with people from all over the country I noticed two very different types of people: Those who do... and are irritated, and those who look to receive... and are also irritated.

These two types of people seem to be in the biggest battle I have witnessed of my life so far. The doers are constantly irritated with the receivers for sucking the life out of this country. The receivers are irritated with the doers because they are doing everything they can to keep the receivers from getting it so easy. Clearly a country cannot survive with two such different thinkers... or maybe it can. Maybe that is the only way that the receivers can survive. Maybe that is the only way for the doers to remain humble from their work. But... how humble are these doers going to be forced to become? Do you think they are going to keep wanting to do while the receivers keep on taking more and more from them? I don't think so. Something has got to give.

Clearly, I classify myself (and I don't like to put myself into any class) as a doer. Yes, I could do more. I believe we all could. But the main thing that differentiates me from a receiver is what I ask of myself the minute I wake up in the morning... that is, "what can I do to work towards my goals?" While a receiver asks, "What can I get to come closer to my goals?"

So as this country becomes more and more of a receiver country, it becomes more and more of a failure country. I meet people everywhere... even a lot of doers... that just annoy me. They do, but then they start complaining too early and don't ask enough of themselves. They have no faith. They are falling... falling... falling... slowly but surely into that receiver category as they ask less and less of themselves, and more and more of others. These are the people that I am targeting this blog toward. These are the people that, with a simple change of thought back to the way they used to think (if they can just remember how that was!) could start back on the real doer road again. These people are still effected by what I write, or by an inspirational quote, or by a Rocky movie, or by a great speaker that begs in a flashy way for people to give life their best! These people need to snap out of it.

How? One might ask. Simple, just ask yourself, what is the most I can give today. If that means quitting a job that is sucking the time and life out of you and going with a dream you had when you were a kid then do it! Jeez, how many people I have met who just totally discounted their dreams once they reached adulthood only to make an almighty dollar a little sooner and to live comfortably... is beyond me! What is comfort without joy? Love? Passion? Zest? Energy? God??? Nothing, if you ask me.

Of course there are the worries... the almighty worries. You know, those things that control our lives. They walk hand in hand with fears... and I hate them. You know what I am talking about, the 'what if's!' The 'I can'ts!' The 'oh man I am sure there is somebody better out there so I might as well not even try!'

Then there are those who forgot altogether what life was like outside of the tiny little box they have put themselves in. That box that just kept getting smaller and smaller until the littlest things, like going for a walk, now seem like too hard of labor for them. They are much more comfortable sitting inside and watching other people do things on a 40 inch flat screen television. These (I don't know how many million) people have driven me nuts too! I can't get their attention for a simple, nice, person-to-person conversation if I try! (Well, I can, but I would much rather see them get up and walk away from that colorful screen of nothingness, realizing that there is so much more they could be doing with their time! Gosh, life is too precious for this, people! America is, and always will be... what we make of it.

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I am going to end this blog with a story of when Megan and I went to Barbados in the southern Caribbean for the last part of our month of adventures on our Jetblue 'All You Can Jet' pass. I saw and spoke with many natives. I stayed with a native, played tennis with a native, and constantly hung out with the natives. I noticed all sorts of things that opened my eyes to the crap that goes on in the U.S. that I just had to write about it. People there do not have nearly as much as people here do in terms of material wealth. But, they do have a beautiful place to live in and an environment where people are united in their love and respect for one another. All the little things that seem to bug Americans and make them so difficult to continuously get along with roll right off these peoples' backs like rain off a leaf. They work less... but get more done, because they think clearly and with zest and energy and they work together! They take the time to engage in fun conversations with one another... gosh I miss that already! They don't worry so much about what tomorrow will bring, but instead have so much energy and liveliness and focus on the moment they are in at any given moment in time. This is all true! I saw it! I saw it in Ireland last year too. Go and see for yourself if you don't believe me! Oh yes, they take care of each other like you only see very rarely in America today, where the focus seems to be mostly on one's self. Ok, they do have their problems, but they do know how to enjoy life.

One night there was a group of taxicab drivers and friends hanging out playing dominoes at the local taxi stop in Holetown, Barbados. It was about 9pm on a Tuesday night and these guys were just laughing it up, filling the night air with the wonderful sound of laughter. Megan and I heard and walked up to see what was going on. They looked at us, some with smiles, others with a bit of confusion... maybe that two white tourists would even care what they were doing, and others couldn't care less that we came up. We talked for a minute with a few of them and they asked if we wanted to join their game. We had no change at the time, otherwise, I might have. But anyway, the point is, these grown men were outside, laughing and having fun with friends. This is something I very rarely see, if ever, today in America. So many people have an agenda, a chip on their shoulder, or maybe ten paranoid worries constantly going through their mind while in public that they are unable to engage in and enjoy times like these.

I wish these things would change... I believe they can. I can't afford to believe otherwise.

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Travel Chronicles:

September 7 - 9th: NYC - Couchsurfed with Nat Chua - Went to U.S. Open

9 - 13th: Boston - Stayed with Megan's college hockey friend Rachel Przybylowski - played tennis with someone I met in a CVS Pharmacy - played my pipes in an Irish Pub in South Boston on stage with an Irish Band.

Late 13 - early 15th: Pit Stop @ home in ATL via flight to Charlotte - Ran errands, worked a day teaching at the club - received some important items in the mail, including my newest attack, the Uilleann Pipes

15 - 21st: Long Beach, CA - Couchsurfed with Sharon Hammer - Played in Pro Futures Tourney in Costa Mesa - Rented a Smart Car Convertible for the time - Ate dinner with friends I met in '07 when I crashed their party - swam in the Pacific - broke my pipes in the same place as '07, out in front of the same house, literally in the same place on the pipes - met a new friend at the tournament - read all about the uilleann pipes - made friends with other couchsurfers staying at Sharon's too

21 - 22nd: Las Vegas - Stayed with Megan's cousins - off-roaded in their Rhino

22 - 29th: Prescott, AZ - brother Luke picked us up in LV and traveled over Hoover Dam to Prescott - met up with my bagpiper/tennis & racquetball playing friend Sandy Massie - watched a multiple-type bagpiping concert - played racquetball nearly every morning around 7 - dinner at Massies - Thumb Butte Hike w/Megan - traveled on foot and bike most of the time - gave Megan two tennis lessons - camped and slid at Sliding Rock in Sedona w/ Megan, Luke & niece Sierra

30 - 6th: Barbados, South Caribbeann - Couchsurfed with Alison Johnson (no link available) - amazing place/views - relaxed - swam in Caribbean - rented motor scooter for 3 days - went on a Sunday Group hike - ate at Fish Fry Friday night - met other couchsurfer who is married to a local tennis pro - played tennis with him - toured much of Barbados (not east coast though) - drank Barbados' own Mount Gay Rum - hitchhiked - enjoyed the simple life

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Signing off,

~ Nate