No More Shame

In the past two days, I’ve read two “shame on you” blog posts. One was by Steven Weber on Huffington Post and the other was by Rocky Peterson on a Salt Lake City newspaper blog. Both were political, both were intended to shame “the American people,” whoever they are.

Both took the line that we need to do something about the political situation in our home country. Maybe we do. Maybe we don’t. That’s not the issue.

The issue is that shame never prompted anyone to make a positive change. I mean it, never. Shame comes from early Scandinavian roots meaning sham. When we feel shame, we feel like we’re false, fake, not real. How could behaviors based in a feeling like this possibly help us make new choices? They can’t.

So here’s the antidote to shame: pride. Not hubris, or pride that wounds, but genuine pride in our land, our people, our system of government. Pride comes from Latin roots that mean brave.

The USA is the home of the brave. Are you brave enough to care about our land, our people, our system of government? Do you follow politics? Do you vote? Is your vote something that makes you proud?

Pick one thing, dear one, one that you care about and do the thing that makes you proud. Voila! No more shame.