At the end of the day...

I have been one to point out things that aren't going as well as I would like to see them go on a national level as well as locally.

However, believe it or not, when I think of this country, the U.S., I think of potential.

I see what is gained at the end of the day after a lot of conflict, misunderstanding, ignorance, arrogance and sometimes plain old pigheadedness on the parts of everyday people and politicians alike.

People have worked and struggled, fought and bled to take a step forward at the end of it all. To see that the next day will be a better day. It's been this way since before the first European ever stepped foot on this land.

This country has been centuries in the making. Bringing different people together from a variety of places around the world.

We are continuously evolving as a united people. Americans thrown together voluntarily and by circumstance.

We shed old habits and ways of thinking and adopt new ones to better suit a different way of life here.

My ancestors of indigenous blood both here in the geographical U.S. and south of the border once lived in vast Indian nations that often thought of themselves as higher on the evolutionary ladder or as a more advanced people than those in other tribes and nations.

They were quite surprised to find themselves on the downside looking up the ladder after Europeans with vastly different technology for making war arrived and not only wanted what the nations had, but didn't want to see the indigenous people even as equal human beings.

They were prideful and that was one of the big contributors to the downfall of the Indian nations in Mexico and the U.S.

The incoming Europeans were prideful as well, it was only due to the technology and the ruthlessness in which they used it they gained the upper hand in dominance.

Since then, other people from other countries have come and added their essence to the mix. Some accepted readily, others having to fight the same battle against pride.

Throughout all the violence and harsh words and hurtful things said and done by everyone involved, everyone stayed. They still stay. It's the hard fought battles and the well deserved wins for respect, dignity and fair treatment of all people that keep us here.

The people, all of the people, have fought too hard and too long too give up now. It would be wasteful of all the effort and hard work by everyone involved to waste it all on quitting.

When we look back at history and the progress we have made and the hard won understanding gained by defeating pride again and again so that all human beings are seen as equal and deserving of the same respect and rights, we see success made over those long days.

To bring all the people from all the places of the world and none being in dominion over another, instead, all people having the opportunity to live their lives as free people and no one group or class dictating their fate is incredible, astonishing and truly awe-inspiring.

For those of us who have lived our entire lives here and caught up in the squabbles and battles day to day life brings us, it can be hard to see this great progress we have made. We can't see the forest for the trees, as the saying goes.

Let's pull the camera back a bit though and take a look at the big picture, not only at this one point in time, but over the course of the last three hundred years or so.

If we went to any place on the planet back then, not one person would have said what we have now would be accomplished. It would be foolish in their eyes to even try.

Do all of the people living here behave in a dignified, conscious manner? Not all of us. In truth, some of us have become ignorant of the history that has been made. Some of us are too self absorbed become it has become easy to be that way in this country now.

The U.S. constitution is a document that has made what seemed the impossible, possible.

Have there been hardships suffered by some? Yes. Are there still hardships and wrongs perpetrated upon one another as we live today? Of course.

The fight is no longer a fight of life or death in this country anymore though. It is no longer a debate of whether a different looking person is a man or not a man anymore. it is a given that all men all created equal and a hard won given at that now.

The battles today are in the nuances, the details. There are also painful and exhausting discussions and fights. But they are worthwhile.

At the end of the long day, reason will be seen and the right thing will be done. It is what we are brought together here to do.

I ask all Americans to stop every once in awhile, don't just see the here and now. See where we have been, where we have all come from and as we have come together and lived together, fought together and squabbled amongst each other, look to see where are we headed.

We have done so much right at the end of the day that it bears continuing the fight to work on what is still wrong. It is not a waste of time to keep trying, to have hope and to think things can be better than they were. They already are.

As long as we continue to keep true to the Constitution and have some faith in one another, we can accomplish even more.