Remembrance Day

I know that it is a little over a week away from now. I'm quite aware of this...

But if we were less than a week away from Christmas, these days would be counted down. It would be sensationalized on every commercial on TV and there would be a buzz like no other time of year.

But what most people don't realize is that without Remembrance Day on November 11, we would probably not be celebrating the holidays we do. -We would be living in a much different world, and certainly the life that we take for granted today would reflect a different story. The choices you have today have become almost automatic and expected, and not earned.

What did we, the people of today, do to deserve this freedom?

The answer is, we haven't done anything to deserve it. Truly, nobody really deserves this kind of freedom. It is a gift, and something that can never be forgotten. We enjoy it, but we will never deserve it...Too many men and women have given of themselves, their families and their lives so that Canada could become the country that it is today.

If you leave this continent and travel anywhere in the world, you would be very surprsied as to what the rest of the world has compared to what we have. What most of us don't realize is that we are the elite of the world, but we don't know it.

The same way that we look at celebrities in Hollywood, and gaze at their lifestyle and fortune is the same way that 90% of the world outside of North America would be in awe of your lifestyle. You may not think that, but it's true. We have so many choices and opportunities that the rest of the world just doesn't have.

We have space; lots of it. We have water that will never run out. We have so many things in our everyday life that are pure and simple luxuries that we look at as ordinary and common.

We could never imagine our lives without what we have today. The safety nets, the family support, the infrastructure that enables us to be successful in today's world. -All gifts that somebody else has handed you.

This started almost a hundred years ago. At a snail's pace, this process has gotten to where we have it all. We are so much more advanced than society of the 1950's. The generation after them saw massive expansion from their parents. And now, we are so far removed from our parents generation, that we would think their struggles were primative.

The point I am making is, when November 11th comes next Wednesday, take time out of your day, your routine, your job, and stop and think where you would be if somebody else that you never knew didn't give you EVERYTHING that you have today.

You may have bought what you have today, but 100's of thousands of people paid for what you bought.

So take some time to prepare before Remembrance Day comes and don't get caught unprepared when 11 o clock finally comes and forces you to scramble. Prepare to be thankful and more importantly, respectful of what kind of life you can lead today.

This is important stuff. It really is! Your kids need to know this and be educated about WHY we do this. It needs to be passed along so that it isn't forgotten and doesn't become a routine that we simply do without knowing WHY we do it.

We don't want to become a nation of people that doesn't give the respect and understanding that every opportunity we have for happiness today has been generations of struggles from those who would want to take that away from you, and enslave us.

Make a point to be a person who cares, and wear a Poppy to show that you do.

Lest We Forget...