Pursuing Happiness

Did you know that you have the right, as an American citizen, to pursue happiness? Let that sink in. Our founding fathers found that right so important that when declaring independence, they included the right to pursue happiness with life and liberty. It doesn't mean that we all have to be happy, nor that we will all reach what we think will make us happy, but we have the right to reach for our own happiness. 

I have spent Independence Day in a variety of ways over the last ten years. There were fireworks over the lake, watching the skies light up around Vulcan with friends, leading field day games and American history lessons as a teacher in a British school, watching Will Smith fight off aliens and throwing tea in a river while traveling through England (because well, why not?). All of these have been different, meaningful in their own way and all were in pursuit of some sort of happiness.

Today was no different. We left the busy, hectic Hanoi in search of a quiet, relaxing kind of happiness. The traveling aspect with the large group of tourists from bus to boat to bus did not make our journey to Cat Ba Island terribly pleasant, but now we are here and well, I believe it was worth it. When planning our trip, we knew we wanted to end with a relaxing beach, something we don't always include in our travels. We started our trip that way and while we are not quite at the end, our next few days on this beach should promise to be rejuvenating.

Our resort is on a quiet, private beach just a short drive from the town. When we arrived around lunch time, the beach was silent, almost eerily, but by mid-afternoon, throngs of tourists took over the other end of the beach. Thankfully, they left before the sunset and Jessica and I were able to watch the skies change over the ocean with only a handful of people on this, our private beach. 

I do love my country despite the turns it has been taking lately and despite the fact that I love leaving her for the summer. I love that my country allows me the opportunity to come and go freely, traveling to new places to learn about new people and customs. This trip has made me thankful to be an American. Don't take that in a way that means I've hated my travels, but instead, it's made me appreciate things we have. I appreciate that we have free education for our children, that we can speak out against our government without fear, that we have good trash and recycling programs and that we are free to worship as we choose. I am thankful that we have the opportunity to travel, to learn, and most importantly to pursue happiness. I pursued happiness today, I hope you will as well. Happy Independence Day!