Who You Are Matters

Race
National origin
Gender/sexuality
Sexual Orientation
Religion
Handicap/Disability/Birth defect

Though this is not a comprehensive list, it does include many of the ways that people use to describe and differentiate themselves from other. Personal identification and pride in who you are is one of the most important things people can do throughout their lifetime In some of these classifications a person cannot change, such as race and national origin. Others, however, allow for greater malleability. People change, and that's great because everyday living changes us, we adapt in an effort to find happiness. It is important that as we go through life, whichever phase we may be in, we are okay with who we are. There is nothing wrong with having identifiers in your life because labels allow us to find others who are like us, who can share our experiences, with whom we can relate.

It's important though that we keep the bigger picture in mind, it is important to remember that we are Americans. Being American is what brings us all together in our infinite combination of labels. We are not Jewish Americans or African Americans or White Catholic Americans, we are Americans. It is from our diversity of heritage and culture and gender and sexual orientation that we as a culture draw our strengths. We are Americans. We live in a country where we can celebrate our differences with the knowledge that this country is the reason we are able to celebrate those differences. We are Americans. No matter where we came from or who we choose to be, all of us share that thread of unity.

Being American is not where we came from it's who we are, and that is what matters. I take immense pride in being a citizen of the United States of America. We are truly like nowhere else in the world.

Being an American is more than just being here though. We are different, we are imperfect, but we are Americans. If you have a few minutes, I ask you to watch the video at this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpj9iA4HiU. It is the naturalization ceremony of soldiers and marines who, at the time of the ceremony, were serving in active duty in the Middle East. These people, from literally all over the world, volunteered to serve a country that was not even theirs at the time of enlistment. That's pretty amazing and I am proud to call each and every one of them, my fellow Americans.