Listen to enough speeches from our elected leaders, and you would think America is a nation in decline. We hear constant talk about what is wrong, who is to blame and why the future is bleak. Yet we rarely hear stories about the remarkable opportunities that still exist in this country.
I recently met a 20-year-old small-business owner while having my e-bike repaired. He started repairing bicycles at age 16 and built his own mobile e-bike repair business. His sand-colored Toyota Tacoma isn’t just a pickup truck — it’s his mobile repair shop, allowing him to bring his skills directly to his customers. He paid cash for it, works six or seven days a week and now has a goal of buying his first home before age 24 — also paying cash.
His success wasn’t handed to him. It wasn’t luck. It came from hard work, discipline, excellent customer service and a willingness to do what many others won’t.
America still rewards those qualities.
Our young people need to hear more stories like his instead of constantly being told that the American Dream is beyond their reach. Success is never guaranteed, but neither is failure. In America, determination, responsibility and perseverance still open doors that remain closed in much of the world.
Perhaps our leaders should spend a little less time telling us how broken America is and a little more time celebrating the millions of hard-working Americans quietly proving every day that opportunity is still alive and well.
