“I Want More”

My inspiration for this post is the song from the movie, “Little Mermaid”, “Part of Your World”.

The Story is about a being, a mermaid, who is torn between her two worlds. She has a beautiful voice but no legs, and it is this story, unlike Andrea Bocelli, where Ariel gets the opportunity to choose.

Ariel is speaking to her friend, Flounder, in song,

“Look at this stuff isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl, the girl who has everything? Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here you think, sure, she's got everything I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty, I've got whozits and whatzits galore, You want thingamabobs? I've got twenty!
But who cares? No big deal I want more.

I wanna be where the people are I wanna see, wanna see them dancin' walking around on those - what do you call 'em? Oh - feet!

Flippin' your fins, you don't get too far, legs are required for jumping, dancing, strolling along down a - what's that word again? Street.

Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun wanderin' free - wish I could be, part of that world.”

See the video: http://youtu.be/2BZp2dxpwF8

There is that still small voice within Ariel, that’s saying you can be more. Not have more stuff, but actually living your life to the fullest. Being the person you’re supposed to be, according to Kermit the Frog, in “Rainbow Connection”.

In his book “PAiLS", Chris Brady makes a statement, “Twenty years from now, what will you wish you had done today?”

Ariel had the inextinguishable yearning to be more. To be, not to have more, unless you say that Ariel wanted to have more of her true self.

In the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull, author Richard Bach portrays this sentiment through the eyes of a seagull that believes there's got to be more to life than just fighting for fish heads! Jonathan taught the other gulls, “You have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now - and nothing can stand in your way!”

What does a Mermaid, a Frog, an Author and a Seagull have in their hearts that you don’t have.

Can it be that just maybe, you have a chance to choose your own destiny? To become the person God intended you to be. Your true self, not the person that stairs at you, yelling, there has to be more, from the mirror.

“I, want more!”

What constitutes the most respected occupations?

While reading the book by Orrin Woodward, “And Justice for All”, I came across a line within a sentence that read, “…constitutes the most respected of occupations”. My mind began to specifically wander, to think about the meaning of those words.

“What constitutes the most respected of occupations”, the one that make the most money, the one that save the most lives, the one that offers pleasure, the one that serves the most people, the one that makes others envy you, the one that’s the most fun or the ones that’s the most secure?

I believe it’s the one that allows you to be your very best, “The something I’m supposed to be”, in the song, “Rainbow Connection” by Kermit the Frog. That still small voice of Purpose, Satisfaction and Significance. The life that is rewarded with the words, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ”To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Which occupation in a thriving society is not important? Which one has more importance? Let the garbage man skip you a couple of weeks or you surgeon go on vacation, or the storeowner close her store on that holiday. What if the Missionaries or their supporters change their minds? What if the World went on strike? Who’s going to drive you home, tonight?

So which occupation should we, respect the most? We should respect the one that makes freedom possible for the people in that society; Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

Thomas Wolfe, American novelist said, “To every man his chance, to every man, regardless of his birth, his shinning golden opportunity. To every man the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever his manhood and his vision can contribute to make him.”

This seeker is the promise of America.

So my fellow Americans, dream your dreams, put on your overalls, your tie, or your surgical mask, and go to work, to provide the example of our original culture of hard work, dignity and the promise of ‘Freedom’. This promise is reserved for all of those who are willing to pay the price.