Because it is Hard

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.”

President John F. Kennedy said that in 1962.  Seven years later, fifty years ago on this very day, Americans made it true.

I’ve been thinking about that sentiment a lot this week: ‘we choose to do it, not because it is easy, but because it is hard’.  The phrase has been resonating in my mind as this country counted down to today and this celebration of American ingenuity and perseverance.

It’s hard not to set the quote side by side, in my mind, with another quote from this week, from another president, in another century.

“If you’re not happy here, you can leave!”

Leave?

No, sir.

My dad taught me from age six when I signed up for teeball: you don’t quit something just because you don’t like it.  Once you’re committed, you see it through, no matter how hard it is.

That’s the American way.

I love this country.  I’ve marveled at the majesty of its National Parks.  I’ve wondered at its skyscrapers.  I’ve closed my eyes and imagined its historic monuments and battlefields as they once were.  I’ve tasted its cuisine and danced to its music.  To imply that I don’t love this country just because I don’t agree with some things that are going on in it, right now, is laughable.  To tell me I should leave says more about your desire to kick me out than it does about me.

But you know what?  No matter how much you want to, you can’t kick me out.

I’m not leaving.  If something’s broken in my country, I’m sticking around to fix it.

Not because it is easy, but because it is hard.