Thankful for THE FREEDOM TO VOTE...

I voted today.  I worked out in my head the best option of the candidates available today and voted.  I chose, nobody chose for me or threatened me because of my choice.  I'm thankful for my FREEDOM TO VOTE.  We  live in a country where we get to choose a lot of what we do and think.  We can choose our career paths, we choose our mates, we choose our behaviors, we choose our religious beliefs.  We have access to unlimited information in the world and we get to make choices for ourselves based on that information.
Just because we get to choose doesn't mean there's always the best choices to choose from.  Sometimes you have to choose the better of the choices knowing it may not be the very best for the situation.  There's a lot to be changed in this country and I'm not convinced it's going to be changed by one man.  This country will be changed by each American stepping up to the plate of responsibility and owning their actions.  Americans will have to want better for each other and take care of each other before there's a need for the government to do so.  Americans will have to be respectful of each other and honor each other. As a country we will have to strive to thrive because we are all full of motivation and self-initiation, not wait in line and raise our hands for bigger handouts.  It has to be more important to each of us to serve than to be served.
The governmental system is not perfect or even fair sometimes, but every year I get to play a part in choosing that system along with every other registered voter in this country.  I am intrigued by the political arena.  I have a secret desire (well not so secret anymore) to jump in there and make things better.  I choose not to.  I choose to educate my children on the state of this union from home so that when their day comes they will have a foundation from which to base their vote.  And today I am thankful I get the opportunity to cast my vote for the direction I think this country should take.  Wherever you stand on your political beliefs, I do hope you appreciate your freedom enough today to vote.