Today we celebrate Veterans Day 2012 and many of us will enjoy a day off from our typical Monday work responsibilities and have the day to do whatever we choose. My question is “what will you do?”
I will not be taking the day off from work but will make today different from all the other Monday’s of the year by thanking those that have or are currently serving our country. I will have the chance to say thanks in person to a few but have a much bigger opportunity through social media. Yes, I said social media.
If you are reading this, chances are that you have a Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account. Today is your opportunity to say thank you to all our military personnel and their families. Yes, their families. If you know someone that has a family member in the service then they too, are currently, or have made sacrifices in the past as their loved ones spent time away from them serving our country.
I remember when my boys were younger and in the Boy Scouts. We used to go Willamette National Cemetery and clean off the grave stones, say the name aloud and thank them for their service to our country. It was an honor and privilege to be part of this but as I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate more and more the sacrifices that these individuals made – not just abroad but here at home as well.
I personally know a few young men that will be deployed oversees early next year and they will leave behind spouses and loved ones who will be left with no more power other than to pray for their safe return and support each other while they wait at home.
I never served in the military but my father, grandfather and father in-law did and I think there are very few, if any of us, that do not have some kind of connection to those protecting us. I am thankful for the service from all that have served in the past and for those currently protecting our Country both home and abroad.
Regardless of our political views, there is absolutely no reason for us not to support the men and women serving our country. Today is a day that we honor those that have served, past and present. My encouragement to you is that you make every day a day to honor these individuals.
We have more power and opportunity to communicate than ever before. Every day we have the opportunity to say thanks but step your game up today and go a little further than you might on any other day.
I won’t begin to say that I know what it is like to wear a uniform, but this I know, our military personnel are people just like me and you. They may deal with different challenges than you and I, but they still need to feel valued and encouraged.
Take the time today to say thank you. When you find out how much a difference it makes, you just might find yourself encouraged to say thanks more than once a year.
TO ALL THOSE SERVING AND PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY – OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
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Barry Smith www.buildingwhatmatters.com 11/12/12 Photo by author
