Ya Gotta Believe: An Essay on Hope

[dawgmom]

I’m a Cubs fan. By definition, that means I dread the month of September. So many hopes dashed in the past, as my beloved Cubbies have entered September leading, only to slump. The thing is – I still believe. When you’re a Cubs fan, “ya gotta believe.” You can’t let the slump get you down, because we know in our hearts that one day, we’re going to do it. Some day, we will finally grasp the brass ring. We saw the Red Sox do it, saw them finally do it, saw them finally break “the curse.” And so, we look forward to that some sweet delirium, that overwhelming joy of knowing that a wish so long denied has finally been granted.

Ya gotta believe.

I’m watching some of the people here in the sort of depression about the slide in the polls that I have seen in myself and in so many fellow Cubs fans over the years. “Nooooo!!! It can’t happen again!!! It just can’t!!!!” The wisest Cubs fans, and the wisest Democrats, however, know that you have to keep believing. You can’t give up, and you have to have it engraved on your hearts that “This is our year.” Now, the best Cubs fans know you can’t be cocky as you proclaim that. They know that you have to keep encouraging the players to work. The same is true of us. We have to keep the faith, and work like hell.

And you know what? This IS our year. I believe that so strongly that I have written the following, which I fully intend to post here on November 5th. This is a pivotal time in our nation’s history, and I believe that we’re due.

Ya gotta believe.
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Wednesday, November 5th
Today, I am so proud to be an American. Yesterday, Americans went to the polls in record numbers and they proclaimed loudly: ENOUGH. The scales have fallen from their eyes, and they did the right thing. They rejected mediocrity and cynicism and divisiveness, and they embraced true leadership and hope and the idea that we are one country, and we are all Americans. I can’t stop smiling, and I can’t stop crying. We have finally reached that long-awaited moment in our history when the majority have truly judged someone based on the content of their character. It is sweet --achingly sweet. Savour the taste of it, close your eyes and drink it in, and applaud yourself for the hard work you have done that brought us to this moment. From here, we only go forward. No more retreat. One country. Indivisible. With liberty, and justice…..for all.