Could Obama’s Speech Be the Worst Ever?

As I was sitting in the airport getting ready to fly to California to speak to a group of educators and youth I was scrambling to get in front of a TV screen to watch the inauguration. Everything seemed to be not going the way I wanted. My flight was at 1pm which means I had to be in the airport for the big speech, the security line was long, and when I got to my gate the cnn.com live stream was so busy that I could not even log on. And when it finally did connect the live feed kept skipping. So far not the most ideal situation. Strike one.

Luckily in the terminal they had TVs playing the speech live but they had two TVs going in the same place with one having about a 5 second delay from the other so it was very distracting to focus in on what was saying. Strike two.

Finally I grabbed a rocking chair and placed myself right in front of the TV set to hear Obama speak. Here comes the third pitch and it was definitely NOT strike three. More like a home run. Was I disappointed? Absolutely NOT! I would be the biggest liar if I said this was one of the worst speeches ever, in fact this is probably going to go down in history as one of the most pivot and powerful public speeches of all time. Anyone who watched this speech knew that Obama kept true to his powerful and colorful language which helps paint a picture that all can see and believe.

I sat there focusing on what he was saying and as many of my fellow Americans probably felt Obama’s words were being spoken directly to me. His message was that of personal responsibility and forward movement to create the world and the life that we want. The underlying message seemed to be that we are a special people, a special nation that will allow its citizen’s to rise to the level of our individual ambition. We can build bonds amongst our brother abroad and fight those that want to destroy rather than build.

To imagine where we have come in just 60 years, from a place where someone like me could not be served in the same restaurant as my mother to becoming the president of this great nation is amazing. Think about how much can happen in such a short period of time, in as little as a year or just in one day.

What will you do to make the next phase of your life different then the last? No matter what your political post we all have one president and have witnessed history. What history will you make for yourself? What new level will you reach when you are feeling tired, upset, frustrated, feeling like hope is lost and you just don’t have what it takes to succeed. What will you choose to do? What action will you take to realize all is possible with the proper belief and the proper consistent action? What will you do to leave behind a legacy that is worth talking about. What proactive choices will you make to make your life what you feel it should be? Will you choose to look at the world with a clenched fist or an open hand?

If today proves nothing else, it is proof that anything is possible if you believe. Change will not come over night, but have resolve that it will come. Will you be a builder or a destroyer?

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