In the end, when we look back, the measure of a life well-lived won’t be fame or fortune, but the relationships we’ve built and the peace we’ve made within ourselves. It will be the sound of our children’s laughter, the prayers whispered in times of doubt, the neighbors who called us friends, and the country we quietly served by living honorably within it.

Because this mindset, this addiction to oversimplification, labeling, and outrage, comes from one central, ugly truth: we’ve become lazy thinkers. We’ve traded curiosity for comfort. Critical thought for conformity. Listening for shouting. Real thinking requires risk. It requires humility. It requires courage and the guts to say, “Maybe I don’t know everything.” But most won’t say that. It’s easier to chant slogans, carry signs and hide within the group think.

Some years ago Bob Dylan wrote that, “We always did feel the same, we just saw it from a different point of view”. That was from the lyrics of Tangled up in Blue, one of my favorite Dylan tunes. “ And every one of them words rang true..” at least to me. And I feel that is the current state of politics in our country. We all feel the same, at least most of us. We all want the best for our country and our fellow citizens, but we see the path to that successful outcome from v