If you’ve ever watched CBS Sunday Morning’s Steve Hartman, you may have gotten a little teary-eyed. His inspiring “On the Road” segments highlight the best in people, from stories about people who show extraordinary kindness, to those who overcome adversity, or simply lend a heartfelt hand.
So often these stories are about people who embody a virtue, a timeless human quality, such as courage, perseverance, hope, and compassion, and use it to help make other people’s lives better as well as their own. These virtues not only positively shape our lives, but, collectively, help shape our country, sustaining freedom, opportunity, and the chance to pursue dreams for all.
As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, it’s wise to acknowledge that America’s story has not always been easy. The challenges and setbacks have been great, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the 2008 financial crisis. Yet through it all, people have continued trying to improve their lives, their families, communities, and workplaces.
Let’s explore how each of these virtues has helped shape America and can continue to guide us into the future.
1. Courage: Choosing to Step Forward Even When It’s Hard
On September 11, 2001, first responders, firefighters, police officers, and ordinary citizens bravely took action to help save others, facing unimaginable danger. Their mission to rescue others outweighed their concern for personal safety. They may have feared for their own lives but pushed through their fears because they believed in the power of their actions to make a difference, and that difference was bigger than themselves.
We can be faced with the most horrific news, or an extraordinary physical setback, yet still get up the next day and keep going. However, we get through the day, there is a courageous voice behind it, telling us to take the next step.
But courage is just as relevant in our day-to-day lives. It isn’t always heroic or dramatic, but it can still be deeply challenging. It can mean standing up for yourself when someone takes credit for your work. Or having a difficult conversation with a loved one that might mean they will have a negative reaction, placing you in an awkward or painful situation. Or perhaps it’s getting on an airplane or a boat when you are scared to death but desperately want to get somewhere.
It’s often the magnitude of our desires, what waits for us on the other side of our fears that helps us move through that fear.
2. Perseverance: Continuing When Progress Feels Slow
How could we have ever rebuilt after the Great Depression beginning in 1929 if the country as a whole didn’t practice perseverance? The stock market collapsed, and the economic crisis continued through much of the 1930s. People lost businesses, banks failed, and there was widespread unemployment. Yet people pressed on in the quest to rebuild their lives and the country.
America’s progress has rarely happened quickly or in a straight line, and neither does personal growth. Many meaningful quests take days, months, and even years to achieve them. As a quote often attributed to Confucius reminds us, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
We need the patience and will to change bad habits, build a business we desire, or heal from a difficult breakup, trusting that progress is still happening even when we cannot yet see the results.
3. Hope: Believing Something Better Is Possible
The 2008 financial crisis brought a great deal of heartache for people, especially when it came to unemployment. Millions of people lost their jobs, and many struggled to find work again. Some lost their homes or savings, while others had to tap into retirement accounts to stay afloat. But the hope that the economy would improve and their lives could recover helped keep many people moving forward.
Hope is not pretending everything is fine, but rather pushing a stake into the ground that claims, “I have faith in what I cannot yet see, but I believe is possible.”
You see, hoping for something doesn’t mean we take no action toward what we want. Look at how long it took Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption to chip away at his prison wall with a small rock hammer—19 years! What kept him going? The hope that he would escape from prison and realize his dream of living in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, where he planned to run a hotel and take guests charter fishing.
In everyday life, staying hopeful and backing that hope with action can help us keep moving when the future feels uncertain.
4. Compassion: Remembering Our Shared Humanity
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020, there was so much uncertainty as we all tried to navigate the unknown. But what was certain was the extraordinary effort of healthcare workers. Their compassion and steady presence became a source of strength during an extraordinarily frightening time.
Neighbors, volunteers, and communities also stepped forward to care for the sick, support vulnerable people, and help one another through an unprecedented crisis.
Why did so many act with extraordinary compassion? Because we were all going through this crisis together, and in that unity, we recognized our shared humanity, our shared capacity to suffer, and our shared desire to be well and happy. These are at the very heart of compassion.
Pema Chödrön, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, wrote in The Places That Scare You, “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals.” She goes on to remind us that compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
Closing Thoughts
America’s 250th anniversary gives us an opportunity to look backward with appreciation, while also asking what kind of future we want to help create. Courage, perseverance, hope, and compassion have helped shape our great nation.
The choice to continue practicing these virtues is always in front of us. When we do, we help set the course not only of a nation, but of our families, workplaces, communities, and the people around us, showing what is possible when we bring out the best in ourselves.
Perhaps one meaningful and grateful way to celebrate America at 250 is to ask ourselves:
What virtue can I practice today that helps make my corner of the world a little better?
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