The day I wrote this column, Jan. 21, 2013, the second presidential inauguration of Barack Obama took place. A presidential inauguration is a celebration of America and what it stands for. In the news coverage, someone quoted American author Alex Haley as saying, “Find the good and praise it.” It seemed we were doing that very thing, but why do we wait for events like this to notice the good in our lives?

President Obama spoke about what holds us together as a country and perhaps the most memorable words from the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The president noted that while we have come a long way toward living this declaration, we still have a long way to go.

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