Reflections of an American

DO WE HAVE MORE POTENTIAL THAN WE KNOW?

by OPOVV, ©2013

(Dec. 29, 2013) — Push and pull; speak and listen; give and take: the Ying and Yang of Life’s forces. When everything’s in equilibrium, when all the planets are aligned, when the good equals the bad; hope equals fear; joy equals sadness, when one becomes satisfied with the Status Quo, that’s when it all comes up and bites you; kicks you from behind, takes you by surprise: you’ve let your guard down; you relaxed; you didn’t pay attention; you daydreamed your chance away.

But lament not; don’t fret; fear not, for hope is eternal. Sure, you can hope until the cows come home and still lose, get captured, made a prisoner, or killed. But there’s no downside in seeing a better future for, who knows, maybe your death will be the spark that sets off your side to win.  Maybe your death will be the last that it took your side to win. None of us knows the future, but what we do know is that if we don’t try, even with overwhelming odds, we’ll never win.

Dark and powerful forces have gathered to send us packing; to render our Constitution obsolete; to conquer and divide us as a people with which our Constitution and the firm belief in the Rule of Law binds us as Americans. Irrespective of race, sex, money and intelligence, Americans are easily identified as being proud enough not to bow to anyone or anything: our flag shall not fly lower than any other.

When I was growing up, my next-door neighbor was an outstanding high school and college athlete, and he taught me, when I was twelve years old, the fine art of throwing the discus. For my 13^th birthday my father bought me a practice hard-rubber disc and, under the guidance of my neighbor, I could toss it 160’ when I was 16 years old. I went out for track (with the intention of throwing), but there was no discus program in place so I ran the ¼ mile and relays.

When I went into the military I took that disc with me with the dream of throwing it, someday, in Greece, and I got that chance. I remember how proud my next-door neighbor would have been of me: every throw was just about perfect, and when everything is right, the balance on, the palm just lying on the disc, and the wind-up and release one smooth fluid motion (no bouncing around on one foot after the throw), when the disc leaves on its trip through space, you can hear it slice through the air, and it’s about the sweetest sound you’ll ever hear.

Now the chance of my being in Greece, when two years before I was in Southeast Asia and still in possession of the my disc, was so remote so as not to be considered: but I considered it. I must have explained a thousand times what it was and why I was lugging it around the world, but I did, and I got to throw it in the country of Greece:  “Oh Happy Day!

Now I know that in the whole scheme of life, yours and mine, my little feat of satisfaction won’t necessarily change the world, but I’m using it as a real down-to-earth example of the seemingly impossible becoming possible. We have the ability to overcome creeping Socialism in America. We have the ability to deport illegal immigrants and to abolish laws and parts of the government that do us harm, namely the IRS and the Department of Homeland Security, and that private corporation known as the Federal Reserve Bank.

[NOTE: after I was separated from active duty, I took my future wife to the place where I had practiced years before. I brought a 100’ tape and proceeded to take a couple of practice throws. Once I was ready, I said, “Watch this,” and let it fly, the best throw of my life, better than in Greece. We (unofficially) measured it at 220 feet; that was in 1967 (the world record is 243 feet 0.5 in set in 1986). It was the last time I ever threw the discus.]

OPOVV