In our last +1, we talked about my process of creating these +1s and the fact that I have an “I VOTED” sticker next to the 30 “+1s” on the upper right-hand corner of my white board.
I pointed out the fact that I made my sticker say, “I VOTE!” and reminded us that we ALL vote ALL DAY EVERY DAY.
Every single choice we make is a vote for a more noble and virtuous world.
Period.
Today I want to chat about a book that inspired me to remember that lesson.
It’s called The Everyday Patriot by my friend Tom Morris.
As you know if you’ve been following along, I love Tom.
He has two PhD’s from Yale—one in Philosophy and the other in Religious Studies. He taught at Notre Dame for fifteen years before becoming a public philosopher. In fact, to put it in perspective, he’s the philosopher who wrote Philosophy for Dummies!
He’s one of my all-time favorite authors and at least tied for first as my favorite living philosopher. We’ve featured a number of his books thus far, including True Success, Plato’s Lemonade Stand, The Stoic Art of Living, Superheroes and Philosophy, and The Art of Achievement.
Over the last several years, I’ve gotten to know Tom personally and I consider him a dear friend and soul uncle. So, when he sent me a copy of this book, I read it immediately as I knew that he would provide an important philosophical frame to the current crisis we face as a nation (and world) divided.
The book is a simple collection of short essays in which Professor Morris challenges us to reconsider what it means to be a citizen and an “everyday patriot” in the modern world—committed to upholding the virtues of our highest ideals in our everyday lives.
It’s a great read.
Here’s the passage that led to my sticker modification:
“Vote in the next election. Vote in every election. Vote even when there is no election! But, of course, in a deeper sense, there is always an election. The words ‘elect’ and ‘election’ come from an ancient Latin root (the verb: elego, elegere) that meant to choose or pick out. We need to think of our daily actions as the result of what we have chosen to do, what we have picked out of all available alternatives as worth our time and attention. And we should choose things that will be of benefit to our communities and our nation, to each other, and to the world. Elect the right matters of concern. Choose needed actions. Vote with your time, your attention, your conversation, and your energies, day to day. Read the paper, keep up with the more reliable news sources that have been around a long time and are staffed by well-trained journalists, sites that were not created simply for narrowly partisan interests; keep up on the problems and opportunities of the day; and get involved in your community to help with the many solutions to local challenges that are required for a better life together. Notice all the needs and challenges that exist around you. Take action, do something good, and by your deeds as well as your words, you can make your views known. And, of course, by doing the same things, so can I.”
Vote in the next election.
And...
Know that we are casting a vote EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY.
Tom quotes Confucius who tells us: “To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
Let’s vote wisely as we embody the Wisdom, Self-Mastery, Love, Courage, Gratitude, Hope, Curiosity and Zest that will allow us to play our roles as Heroically well as we can to meet these historically significant challenges head on TOGETHER.
Heroes, unite!!
Day 1. All in.
Let’s go!
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