Greetings!

It's summertime! Beaches and ball games.  Hot dogs and watermelon.  Festivals and parades.   We fondly remember our childhoods, and jubilantly celebrate our patriotism.  It is, of course, an understatement to say it was at great price and with great courage that this country's founding men and women gained their freedom.  In fact, I recently saw a bumper sticker that read, "Freedom isn't free." 
 
Now I know the bumper sticker was referring to our freedom as a nation.  But it prompted me to begin thinking about other freedoms, personal freedoms, which also come at a cost and take courage to achieve. 
 
I thought of the young man I recently saw at a swimming party.  He had spinal bifida, unable to walk and was confined to a wheel chair.  Yet he was there with his friends, swim suit on, throwing balls for them to catch off the diving board.  While I'm sure he would much rather have been in the water, his willingness and courage to participate actually freed him from his disability.
 
This past presidential primary season exemplifies others who have had the courage to be free.  We saw candidates who were Jewish, Mormon, Hispanic, African American and female, each with an army of supporters.  There was a time in the not too distant past when this scenario couldn't have been imagined.  But today, our nation is hard at work freeing itself of the ugliness of racism, bigotry and sexism, and this is solid evidence of that.
 
I think, too, about the men and women I see everyday at my gym.  We come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. We are there to achieve and maintain our health goals, having freed ourselves from the fear and inhibition that could have very easily kept us away.  There's no arguing that it takes courage to stand on a treadmill next to a twenty year old Barbie doll or Captain America.  But the price is so worth it.
 
As we prepare to celebrate our nation's 232nd birthday, these words from the Greek historian Thucydides ring true: "The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage."  
 
Celebrate your freedom; celebrate your courage!