It irks me to see a president who appears to care little for the nation I love. It irks me to see high-level government officials, people who have power and influence around the world, refuse to take responsibility for their actions. It irks me to see people not willing to keep trying to make a life for their families. It irks me that the word family no longer means what it used to. Dining rooms and tables sit decoratively in homes, no longer used for gathering the family to dine and converse together. Children sit in their own rooms playing video games while parents go about doing their own business. No forts of couch cushions are visible in living rooms. No fishing poles sit by the door waiting for a father and son to use them in the coming weekend.

I refuse to let the modern world become my world.

My family will have picnics on the lawn and stay out until dark to lie under the stars while we ponder the deeper meanings of life together. We will hike, bike, run, swim, and camp together. We will stand firm in our beliefs and resolved in our purpose. We will not let power deplete us.

It hurts to see the world I live in allow so much corruption. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard.