Do you ever wonder how the United States continues to thrive as a country? In this episode, Jimmy and Co-Host Lori Few share their most important aspects about life as a citizen of the United States of America in celebration of Independence Day 2021.
Episode Keys
- The connection between freedom and responsibility as a citizen of the U.S.
- Why you must help others who are seeking success just like others helped you.
- How to maximize your success in the U.S.
- The secret formula Jimmy has used to reach success on his own terms in a country that allows and rewards hard work and tenacity.
- How Lori’s life began and the turning points she experienced to reach success on her own terms.
Podcast Transcription
JW:
Good morning. You know, one of the most important things in life that can help you become and stay successful is actually where you live and work the country you live in the rights that you have, but yet the responsibilities you possess all build into a formula for success, especially in the United States of America. As I was studying for this episode, it brought to mind to me the Preamble of our constitution and what those words truly mean in this day and age. We may have forgotten these words. If you know, you learn them back when you’re in grade school. I know all of us, probably if you went to an American school, had to go through a program during sometime of the year that said, “Hey, you got to announce and state the Preamble.” So I want to bring this to your attention this morning.
JW:
But before I do, thank you, thank you to everyone that listens to Live a Life By Design. I’m Jimmy Williams, and I am joined today by a very special person. I’ll introduce her in just a moment, but the Preamble to me sums it up about what we have as opportunities in this great land. We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Whew. I just get chills when I read that, because that is so powerful, those 52 words – that’s all that is, 52 words – took six weeks for the founding fathers to write in Philadelphia in a hot summer time in 1787. It’s not that these words come simply. These words didn’t come easily. It took six weeks. Can you imagine what it took for the entire draft to be accepted of the Constitution? So to kind of dissect this a little bit, I’m going to bring into this episode, my partner in crime for episode recordings, I’ll give it up for my co-host with the most, Ms. Lori Few. Glad to have you Lori.
LF:
Good morning, everybody! Preamble… That’s a very tough word for a Monday morning.
JW:
That means before we amble, I think, preamble. On a serious note, there’s some words in here that I want to take a phrase out of this. I’d like your comment on it. You know, too often, people will look at us in the United States from other countries and just wish, hope, desire they had some of these same freedoms that we were so fortunate to enjoy in our country because of men back in 1787 and women supporting them, got this country founded. It took both of the sexes to get this country where it is today. But I want to ask your thought, what does it mean to you when the founders put in this 52 word paragraph “in order to form a more perfect union”? What do you think they mean by that?
LF:
Oh goodness. It’s hard. It’s hard to think, you know, what in their mindset, what they were thinking, but I think they probably knew even writing it then that they were going to need to strive to be better. I think they opened that up for opportunities to say, in order to form a more perfect union, they knew then what they were crafting was going to be molded and shaped by the future generations. And so leaving that open to interpretation to say what we know now we hold to be the truth, but knowing that it’s imperfect.
JW:
That is a great explanation. I’ve often thought about to have a union. I must have two or more items. So we’re talking about these 13 colonies that formed these first original states. And at the end of the day, our founders wanted to find something that allowed each of these states to function not only as their own, under their own rights, states’ rights. They then wanted us to form this union that would give all of us contributing to a common goal. And Lori, I read in there a very big, common goal the founders wanted. How about this for a goal: to ensure domestic tranquility? What’s that mean to you?
LF:
Domestic tranquility, tranquility in itself. I mean, we all want that. I mean, life is anything but tranquil in the last several years.
JW:
So tranquility is like having like a giant adult-sized coloring book. I mean, with unending colors, right?
LF:
We bleed red, white, and blue this month, okay? It’s July, so we’re focusing on if we’re going to forgive… We digress about the adult coloring books, but I mean, goodness, I’m never going to live that down, ladies and gentlemen, just saying. But, tranquility in itself I think is a noble attribute. We all want to have that in our lives and we all want to strive to have that. And I think, can you imagine, I mean, we have trouble now getting in a room full of people that try to make a decision about where we’re going to eat or what we’re going to do for the day, let alone these men who decided to take on this task of trying to unite these 13 colonies with all their different ideas and opinions and scenarios. And so, just the idea that they wanted it to be tranquil is great in my mind that they even thought that we could have that. So, I think we all strive for tranquility. Listen, I can’t even say the word.
JW:
Hey, that word is a coffee induced word. You’ve got to drink coffee before you say these words.
LF:
Preamble, tranquility, I mean, where are we going here?
JW:
Well, I have a method to my madness, you stay with me now. And then, I love this phrase: “secure the blessings of Liberty.” Now they didn’t just say secure Liberty. In other words, I would just imply that we all have freedoms, but they want you to understand what type of Liberty. How should Liberty be understood? How should it be recognized? How should it also be something we’re thankful for? It’s a blessing of Liberty. What do you think about that phrase?
LF:
Well, you know, again, it’s, so it’s our history, and how can we not embrace the ideas of our history? It’s where we started. I mean, it was literally a grassroots effort. They fought so hard to have that Liberty to uphold that ideal. And sometimes I feel like even now we tend to take that for granted because we don’t realize the struggle that people before us fought so hard. And those were such simple ideas for us, but for them, I mean, they were huge hurdles that they had to overcome. So thank goodness they did. I mean, can you imagine where we would be if they hadn’t?
JW:
So, keep in mind what happened. They had committed treason and committed it to get to this point, even write this document, right? The Declaration of Independence?
LF:
I mean, willing to put their life on the line, just to assert some ideals that they hope that people would join in with them to seek something that they thought could be better than oppression.
JW:
That is a great comment. So I’ve got some hard questions for Lori today. She’s going to entertain us a little bit with some really deep thoughts on these hard questions of which I’ve not presented to her prior to this. So this is very much just going to talk and enjoy some of the great opportunities we have in our country. So my first question to you, Lori, is a very difficult yet simple one. What opportunities in this great country of the United States of America have you been able to take advantage, that if you lived in a another country, you may not have had the same benefit?
LF:
You know, first of all, I’m in the hot seat, I’m thinking on my feet. So just forgive if it’s a little rough around the edges, but the first thought that comes to my mind when taking advantage of an opportunity is – I mean, we talked about this before – I grew up in the foster care system. In this country, people have a lot of attitudes or opinions about that system, but the reality is that in some countries, children who cannot be cared for by their biological parents are left to fend for themselves. They become orphans. They become, you know, just going through life alone with no support system, with no government help, with no direction, with no state mandated rules and regulations. And so for me to know that even though my biological parents couldn’t take care of me, there was a system in place that stepped up to that challenge. And while, again, while I know people have a lot of differing opinions on the matter, thank goodness in this country for that opportunity, because for me, that opportunity provided me with a stable family and an education and pathways to better myself, even though my biological parents couldn’t do that for me. So that’s the very first thing that comes to my mind when we talk about opportunities in this country versus some other country that we actually provide and take care of our children. And it may not be the way everybody sees the best way to do that. But thank goodness that we actually have a system in place that’s working towards trying to make it better.
JW:
Man, that is a great response. And you know, one of the opportunities that we have in this country is that if you wish to work hard, apply yourself, commit to a goal that’s one of those stretch goals that takes you far out of where you may have been put in life to start, is always remember where you start is not where you end up if you want to apply yourself. And that’s the thing I love about this country. I, too, had a little loving family, but six of us didn’t have a lot of money. I mean, I’m talking about, we just had a lot of love, never missed a meal, as you can probably tell by looking. But, we did pray with one eye open at each meal because there wasn’t enough potatoes going around. But anyway – and that’s not true. My point here about this country is this, there are so many people, you know, I don’t want to get on this immigration challenge we’re facing. Now, what I want to talk about is why do you think it’s occurring, Lori? Why do you think we have an immigration challenge in this country? And I hate the word issue. It makes it sound like it’s something that’s negative. It could be a positive thing, but tell me what your thoughts are about immigration. Why would we have that challenge?
LF:
I think it’s the initial challenge. You know, our country was founded on people who wanted to come here to make a better life. And they saw that as an opportunity. I think it’s still an opportunity. I think we still have people who genuinely want to better themselves and their families. The challenge lies within the human nature. We’ve got to work harder and smarter and better to try to accommodate how we can effectively do that and to do it the right way. I know people talk about, you know, illegal immigrants versus documented, different things. And it’s a really hard concept to even understand as an adult. And so when you talk to younger people about it they, too, have polarizing opinions, but I still think it’s that, you know, the United States is that land of opportunity where that land, where people can come here and change their lives. And when you’re born here and you are raised in this country and you don’t see that struggle, it’s hard to kind of relate to. But I think as citizens, it’s our job to kind of say, let’s figure out how to do it and do it the right way so that other people can have those same opportunities.
JW:
Yeah, absolutely. I concur. I do believe there needs to be a system in place that allows others to come here. We are a, you know, a land of immigrants and some of my people – I’m part Native American – but then some of my people were here, but then also we had others come in, the English and then we had the Scottish. And so we’re just a melting pot, and that has made us the great country we are today though. I think the differences between ourselves are so small in comparison to the commonality of seeking a better way of life. And you know, this to me is not one fighting for power. This is a group of people wanting to share those common, good things we have together and raise up our entire communities. You know, there are some communities I have been fortunate to venture into Lori that, let’s just say they have zip codes that are even expensive. I mean, you can’t put a house down there. I mean, you have to look at it and go, “That piece of ground without the house is a lot of money.” But what I’m getting at by that is the reason for that is these people have a common background, decided they want that more perfect union in their community. You know, it’s a very much opportunity style system we live, whereas these opportunities are given to everyone. I’ll give you a case in point of a friend of mine, he doesn’t speak very good English, but, he’s from central America. And he is one of the most challenging of work… the more challenging the job, the more he does it. He started out as a skilled craftsman and now owns the company. His English is not as smooth as he had liked, but what he can communicate, he communicates integrity. He communicates the opportunities he gives his people and he tries to hire a very diverse workforce. And he’s accomplished that. And I always ask him, and I’ll say, “Why did you even want to come to our country?” And he said, “Freedom.” And I said, “No, explain some more to me.” And he said, “Freedom to choose what I wish to do with my life and for my family.” You catch that? In central America, some of the countries, bless her heart, don’t have their citizens the capability to choose. They must do whatever the state tells them to do. And that’s just all they’re going to get in life. And so this country gives you opportunities to do what you want to do, not necessarily what you have to do. And that’s that freedom I enjoy, Lori. I could not imagine living anywhere else where I couldn’t just get up everyday and go try to change the lives of people for good. I just love my job, but there are countries where people don’t have that opportunity. So, this is what’s great about the United States of America, I’ve got to say. I’ve another question though, for you, Lori, it’s just going to get tougher as we go. These questions are going to get harder and harder. If you could change one thing about your life today in the United States – now not your life in particular, but life in the United States. If you could change one thing today to make life better for all people in the United States and the world, what would it be and why?
LF:
My goodness. Well, you can really tell that I did not have a script to prepare. I did not have any idea what was coming at me. One thing that I could change to make it better for everyone… I don’t know. You know, I could go with the standard answer world peace, but that’s not going to cut it.
JW:
Oh, she’s in competition, scholarship competition, with young ladies… Let me share with you while you’re thinking, let me just share something. Here’s one thing I thought about as I was thinking this over, when I asked that question in my little skinny note pad, and I wrote it down. My question to you was given for this reason I would change this one simple thing that is not simple at all. I would hope that we could grant understanding to everyone on the planet. In other words, there doesn’t have to be a right or a wrong, we can do what John Lennon said. And I don’t agree with his entire song when he gets into it. But you know, when he talks about the song, imagine, and just imagine there is no war. Just imagine we all understand one another. No one could have said it better with nonviolence than the president of South Africa that spent 27 years in prison for his beliefs. And you know, at the end of the day, I got to go to the Bill Clinton presidential library in Little Rock. And if you haven’t been there, you need to take your son and your husband over there because it is a wonderful historic moment to see what Nelson Mandela had accomplished in his short time outside of the prison. That’s all I want, understanding for everybody.
LF:
Well, and I think, you know, when you say that, it triggers in my mind, understanding is acceptance, acceptance and tolerance. I think those kind of go hand in hand with what you’re saying, and that’s something that on a human basic level, no matter who you are, where you are, those are two things that we should all strive to do: acceptance of people, just because we don’t. And I know we’ve talked about this before on the podcast, that just because we don’t agree doesn’t mean that we can’t accept each other in our point of view, and tolerance, we have got to learn that. And as adults, I know it’s hard, but even with kids, we, as the adults, we’re supposed to set the example, we’re supposed to be tolerant of other people and their ideas and their culture and how they go about their everyday life. And just because we don’t agree with them doesn’t mean that we discount them, or we write them off. We just learn that that’s part of, you know, going back to those 13 colonies. I mean, they all had their different ideas. They all had their different opinions and how they raised their families and, you know, had their jobs in their community, made prosperity and wealth and all those things. And so I think you’re absolutely right. Understanding, acceptance, and tolerance. Those are things that don’t cost anything. We should implement them in our daily lives and just practice them, even in small amounts. I’m going to tell you that I disagree with people that don’t like certain coffees but you know that about me. So it’s something insignificant. But to me, it, you know, it opens up the conversation and it reminds me that, you know what, not everybody has a double shot straight first thing in the morning.
JW:
Not everybody can be right about coffee. I mean, I’m just kidding. So, you know, my simple thing here are close to home, very close, near and dear to my heart about acceptance and tolerance is an example that started in 1987 in my life, September the 19th of 1987. And this, when my wife allowed me to marry her and walk her down the aisle, she accepted me and she has tolerated me ever since.
LF:
Perfect example!
JW:
So everyone can see that I’ll put the wedding photos on the website, because that’s not funny. I’m being a little bit funny there. But hey, one last question, and then you can ask me anything you wish, but here’s my one last question for Lori Few. This lady is knowledgeable and wise beyond her years. Here it goes. If you had a magic wand in your hand that allowed you the power to do any one thing, but you only got one thing you could do with this magic wand in your local community today, what would you do with your magic wand? One point of power.
LF:
Oh, one point of power in my local community. Hmm. Goodness. Okay. I know this is going to sound, it’s probably going to sound odd and off the cuff and random. I would probably put more women in positions of leadership in this community. I myself find that a lot of times when I walk into a room, I may be one of the only women in the room at the table. And I don’t necessarily think that it’s because we don’t have women in the community that don’t want to take on those leadership roles. I think that they are just committed. They have so many things going on. And so in a local community, if I had my magic wand, you know, don’t get me wrong. I love Mayor Brown, but I think I want to see a woman be mayor someday soon, or you know, more women on the city council, more women in positions of leadership throughout the community. I think we’re moving in that direction. I think it’s, we’re on the prefaces. Another big word for this this day. I’m starting to get there. I just think that it would be a great thing to show all of our young girls in our community and even our women that, you know, our grandmothers and our retired and had served in those positions of leadership before us to come out and come to the table and say, you know, we support you. We want you to do this. We think that that would be a great thing. That’s probably what I would use my magic wand for on a local level.
JW:
I’m proud. You said that because I just thought you would say something like a Starbucks on each corner. There it is okay?
LF:
Nope, Nope.
JW:
Good, good. So my one magic wand item is while you’re thinking of the question to give me, I want to say this, my one magic wand item would be that we would at once, in this city, pool together so strongly that we lift up those who are working so hard, but not yet the means to get where they need to be. And we would learn from those that have reached and attained the heights of success in our local community. To me, that is what it’s all about for those of us that have been blessed. We need to bless those that are on their way. And if they’re not on their way, remember our motto here on Live a Life By Design. We’re not giving hands out. We’re giving hands up. So to me, Lori, that’s kind of the deep sentimentality I have. If you’re going to use polysyllabic words, a precipice, give me a break, man. That was big. That was big. Oh, wow.
LF:
Yeah. Now we’re going to turn it into a spelling bee. I need you to spell that word.
JW:
Yes. P-O-L-Y celebrity. You heard it first. Jimmy could spell. Yes. I know numbers and the alphabet, but yeah.
LF:
Well, you’re doing better than I am. So my question off the cuff for you, and let me just tell you, I can never catch Jimmy off the cuff. He always has an answer. He will be prepared no matter what, but I know since we’re on the subject of freedom and opportunity and liberty, and you’ve quoted the Preamble this morning, I want to know, because I know you’re a history buff, your favorite founding father, and what contribution you are most proud of them for.
JW:
My favorite founding father. So I’d have to say it’s a hard one. Lori, you did catch me off guard there because that’s a very difficult one. I will say this, my founding, not founding, but my favorite historic president, can I go with that? It’s just so many founders to this great country. John Hancock, Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin. These guys were heroes of the day, right? So let me just say this. My favorite historic president was someone that believed in this Preamble so much. He literally gave his life for this country, his name, and I love to see his memorial. Every time I go to DC, it’s just like a pilgrimage me. I go to the memorial and I read the inscriptions on both the east and west walls. As I stare at that great statue of that powerful, powerful man during the time of disruption, this country from 1861 to 65, president Abraham Lincoln. So think about what he did when people, people hear me say he gave his life. He literally, no secret service back in the day, there was nobody to protect him. He’s just in a theater watching this live production, right? And at the end of the day, he did something that is unheard of. He kept this country from destroying itself. No outside enemy came to our, you know, discussion of, “Hey, well, we need to do this. We need to do that.” And to this day, there are still some challenges we face as a country to pull back together. The unity that I know we possessed and deep, we all want the same things. Lord, we want peace. We want our families to have security. And we want the opportunities that a Republican only bring that you can’t get. If you’re in some states that are ruled by dictators, you know, let’s face it. And I’m not trying to be rude to these folks. There’s some great people in every country, but I can assure you. We have the ability to say, you know, I don’t appreciate what our president did in this policy. It doesn’t mean I hate the guy or gal. It just means I don’t agree with their logic or their policy. You say that North Korea, you’re gone and I’m not trying to pick on the people of North Korea, great people. But if that’s the difference between a regime and a Republic, now I love my country. There are some days I don’t understand some of the decisions we make, but that’s a part of growing. That’s a part of understanding. That’s a part where I have to work on Jimmy to say, maybe I don’t know enough about this subject matter that I need a deeper understanding that is Abraham Lincoln. Did you realize his cabinet? So the president selects his own cabinet. He had in his cabinet, almost the same number of people, of his own party as people of other political parties and beliefs, because he wanted not a bunch of, yes, people. He wanted a bunch of people with their best love and thoughts toward great country we live in and how to make it even better. That, my friend, is why I love the historic Abraham Lincoln.
LF:
I like it. Abraham Lincoln. He is one of the greats.
JW:
You know, I got to admit one thing. I just kinda gush every time I get around anything that’s Abraham Lincoln. I’ve read – I’m not exaggerating at all – I’ve probably read about 50 books on Abraham Lincoln, his leadership, his history, whatever. And I did a real booboo one time in DC. So there was a cabin that Abraham Lincoln would ride his horse by himself with no guards from the white house to this little cabin where he would get a rest, from the war. And he could just think, and he just rode along. They have bullet holes in a jacket he was wearing that showed that people were shooting at him. It never hit him while he’s riding his horse to his little cabin. So this cabin is you can imagine as part of the federal park service. And I got to tour this, you know, I’m just in awe. I’ve got my phone on my camera, on my iPhone. And I’m taking pictures and just documenting all this. And I just can’t believe I’m going. I’m standing where Abraham Lincoln stood during 1861, 1865. And at the end of the day, I saw this rocking chair and I was thinking, well, that’s pretty cool. I’m going to get a picture of myself in this rocking chair. Now I want to tell you everyone listening. I do not break laws or policies intentionally, but there was no placard that said, “do not sit, don’t touch,” anthing. It’s just sitting there, this chair. Yes, I did. I sat down and I took my phone and turned it around and said, just resting and chilling in Abraham Lincoln’s cottage. And this young man from the park service said, “Sir, sir, please rise. Get up, get up out of that chair.” And I said, “It’s just a rocking chair.” And he said, “No, sir.” And he reaches down on the floor behind the little nightstand or stand that was right next to this. He said, “This must have fallen off.” I said, “Oh, I didn’t see anything on there. What is this?” And he said, “This is the original chair Abraham Lincoln would sit and think about the issues of the day in.” And I just stared profusely another big word. That means embarrassingly. Great, great embarrassment apologized. But I sat in the president’s chair. So I didn’t dry clean the suit I was wearing. I just hung up the pants.
LF:
That selfie os poster size in your home isn’t it?
JW:
Yes, along with the citation, I can no longer go back there from the park service. But anyway, no, I’m just kidding. He understood. But man, I felt so bad because I just loved to preserve history, right? You know, don’t tear that up, learn from it, preserve it and move it forward. And so that is a a hundred percent true story. I was so embarrassed after he told me that,
LF:
Oh my goodness, that is an awesome story. You didn’t know that Jimmy had a wild lawbreaking side.
JW:
I don’t even want to tell you what I did in the boy Scouts. We were at a National Jambouree in ’77. We go see the actual Constitution, the parchment Constitution. It’s ensconced in glass, but it clearly has a sign there that says, and you go one way, you walk in front of it. You look at it. You may take pictures, but no flash photography. It does things to the ink and all that stuff. Don’t do any flash photography. Well, back then I had this little phone that my parents had gotten me. One of those, you know, he’s got film fail minute and don’t laugh. People. That’s how old I am had film in it and had a little, little flash thing on top built in. It’s like a, I don’t even know if it’s 35 millimeter. It’s just a little bitty one. Anyway. I thought I had turned it off. I don’t know how to operate this thing. I’m in the boy Scouts. I’m wearing my boy scout uniform and I stand in front of the US Constitution and I look straight down on it. And the biggest old flash goes off. Three Capitol hill police come. And I go, “I thought I had it turned off. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do.” I thought they were going to confiscate the camera. I thought that was a body cavity search. You know, I’m thinking this is terrible. The Constitution. Something I would die for today. If they called me to war, I messed up the Constitution. Oh my gosh. True story there. I may need to make sure that the statute of limitations is told on these violations because I don’t know if I could still get in trouble, but you’ve just been confessed. You’ve admitted all of it.
LF:
You heard it first right here. No, going back. That’s it. It’s been nice knowing you, Jimmy.
JW:
Send me some fruit baskets to the federal prison, if you don’t mind. So at the end of the day folks, here’s what Lori and I are trying to tell you. This is a time of celebration. Our country just celebrated its birthday yesterday. As we celebrate in our country, the 4th of July. And I hope your family and your friends celebrated the great blessings opportunities and the security you have in this great country of ours. Laurie, why don’t you take it away? And let’s end this episode. Well, okay folks, you can’t see her, but she’s scratching her head. Cause I did not script this. So let me tell you what I think she was thinking.
LF:
Okay. So I actually had, you know, we’re big on quotes. You know, we talk a lot about, you know, Jimmy’s gotten into journaling and different things until I’m very into quotes. And so one thing that I love, I love Will Rogers. Great, great Oklahoman. And one of his quotes is, “America is a land of opportunity and don’t ever forget it.”
JW:
I love that. I love that.
LF:
If I was going to leave you with something, it would be that. The simple words of Will Rogers, that America is full of opportunity and don’t you forget it.
JW:
But another one that he says you know, I love this. He said, I want you to understand what our government is – he said, uh, poli- is a word P O L I, that means many. And tics means blood-sucking creatures. So there you go. That’s not me folks. If you’re listening FCC, that is will Rogers as a quote. That’s a direct quote. Hey Lori, thanks for joining me today here on Live a Life By Design. You are always, always a good sport. Thanks for putting up with me.
LF:
Thank you for having me.
JW:
Hey folks, you’ve heard some of the comments we have today in our hearts, pour out to our great country. Let’s get behind our neighbor, help lift everyone up with a hand up, not a handout and go out, make this week, your best week ever. And then capture those opportunities that I know will come your way. If you’re simply looking for them, live your life by design. And until we meet again next week, keep your eye on the prize. Take care.
