What was the Price of Today? Who Paid?

I was driving through the Columbia River Gorge towards Portland, Oregon and it struck me once again, as it often does, that life is beautiful! You know what else is beautiful? Freedom.

Freedom equals choices, choices equal action, action equals opportunity, opportunity equals luck, luck equals fortune, fortune equals advantage, and advantage equals living your best life.

Are you living your best life? If so, how much did it cost you?

As I was driving, I also wondered who had truly paid the price for what I had, and had I ever said thank you. See many of us become successful, have good lives, and think that it was all because of us, our education or our choices. But is this the truth?

Without the beauty of freedom, without the sacrifices so many men and women gave of their families and their lives to protect our freedom, I would not be living my best life today. I would not have had the freedom to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, driving where I want to drive, doing what I want to do, and thinking what I want to think. See these are all freedoms that I often take for granted. Thousands have prepaid this price for me, a price that maybe I am not even willing to pay to reach my own goals.

Could I really be my best without someone else paying the price of freedom for me? No, I don’t think so! So for some reason that morning driving through our beautiful country, it came upon me that I owed so much to those who paid the ultimate price, a price that I never had to pay. My choices, my life, my success, and my enjoyment of my God-given freedom is only true because someone was willing to pay for me.

The price of freedom!

I have the freedom every morning that I wake to be the best I can be. It is my choice to enjoy today, it is my choice to appreciate the options I have, and it is my choice to enjoy the beauty of living a great life. However, someone paid the price so that I have the choice! I hope you take a second today to appreciate the price someone you do not know paid for your freedom and your life! Never take this day for granted because someone paid the price for you to have it!