The Exception is the Rule

The greatness of America is that we are born with the freedom to be whatever and whomever we want. We love a good story where an underdog, someone with a challenge or circumstance, refuses to give up and beats the odds to become great, popular, or even just to live when they weren't expected to. Americans love this because that's what we are; it's how we started, and how we continue to exist.

The British left the United Kingdom for religious freedom and for a new start. Even as colonists, they still considered themselves -and were proud of being- Britons. The problem arose when the government refused them the respect and autonomy that they felt they deserved, due to their exertions in the French and Indian War, as well as their position as British subjects. Instead, the King and Parliament imposed tyranny and oppression with taxes and denial of rights (ehem, sound familiar? - Note: it's never-ending... you must always defend your rights!).

British-Americans became "more attentive to their liberties, more inquisitive about them, and more determined to defend them," John Adams. The colonists were being contemptuously referred to as Yankees, and while William Pitt had warned British Parliament not to treat us as the "bastards of England," they didn't listen and treated our cause as illegitimate. The British insulted and verbally attacked us as well as some of the most venerable people of that era, including most notably, Benjamin Franklin.

We went on to declare our independence from the United Kingdom and fought an enormous war to cement that. And suddenly, the Yankees, the troublemaking colonists beat the biggest empire of that time. We were victorious over England, who had a huge army and the largest naval fleet in the world, and won our freedoms, becoming the United States of America. We had a couple fits and starts along the way, but we succeeded, and continue to succeed, because we are tenacious in our beliefs, persistent in our love of individuality and freedoms, and just plain stubborn about what we know is right.

This bulldog-ish personality has trickled into each and every American, for each and every of the 234 years that we've had our independence. In Britain, if you were born into a class, you stayed there. But in our great country, that is simply never the case. We all know what the American dream is - the possibility and opportunity to become something. To create yourself in any image you desire. There is no limit unless you believe there is one. There are no rules except self-imposed ones...

In our country, the exception is the rule. Yes, people suffer hardships. Yes, some roads are far more difficult than others. But it's possible in this country as long as you persevere. I could go on and name numerous examples, but here are just a few: John D. Rockefeller, Conrad Hilton, Chris Gardner, Ray Charles, Mark Wahlberg. Our predecessors came to this land to seek the American dream before there was an America... people still come to our country just to have that same chance. We are lucky enough to be born here. You have the opportunity in your reach.

Choose your dream and run after it. Never stop running, never stop working to achieve it, and never, ever listen to your detractors.

Be an American. Live the dream ... to the very last second.