Last updated on January 22nd, 2019 at 02:08 pm
What Freedom Means To This Motivational Speaker
In honor of the July 4th holiday, I am writing today about freedom and what it means to me.
- Freedom means I get up every day and choose my own path – make my own decisions – follow my own road – whether that road takes me to a neighbor, a job, or the clearance rack of Walmart.
- It means I don’t have to cover my face or my hair extensions and allows me to walk around in Pilazzo pants, even if they do make my butt look like two pigs fighting under a blanket.
- Freedom means I get to raise my child any way I want – even if that means making him wear knitted sweaters that his grandmother made, where we have to cut out our own neck hole.
- It means I get to choose my own church, and how I want to worship, and what I want to believe in. It means I can walk openly into my church instead of hiding out so others won’t know what I’m doing.
- Freedom means I get to have a voice and an opinion – no matter how silly or dumb it may be.
- It means I get to own my own house, my own business, my own car – my own future. Even when I mess it up, it’s still mine to mess up.
- Freedom means that I get a say in how this country works. And that my voice matters just as much as the next voice.
- It means that I can use my words to share hope and humor and tell my story.
- Freedom means I can love my neighbor just as they are, without expecting them to be like me.
- It means that I have a group of men and women watching my back at every moment – making sure I’m protected and safe – men and women who are willing to die for me – even when they don’t believe the same things that I do.
- Freedom means neighbors who help each other just because they can, and people who rally and gather and serve when crisis hits – putting aside their differences or arguments from the day before – to come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, with justice and liberty for all.
- Click here for closing words from my nephew.
Thank you to the men and women who serve, have served, and will serve – to protect and defend one of our greatest treasures – freedom.
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Kelly Swanson is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show airing on Amazon Prime. She is also the author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Affirmation Journal for Positive Thinking. She was a featured entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines, keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention, and has keynoted major conferences and corporate events from coast to coast. She just launched her one-woman show Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale in theaters, and it is being booked all over the country. In July of 2022, she was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.
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