For those readers in the United States, Happy Independence Day! Families gather, picnics, fireworks, fun and relaxation, the Fourth of July is an annual celebration of the beginnings of the United States of America. In addition to a great excuse for parties, the Declaration of Independence was, and is, a stated intent to live free from tyranny and oppression.
Regardless of your citizenship, and even if you have never been to America, the United States Declaration of Independence can serve as a model for the power of stating your Intent, focusing on its’ achievement, and working to make it happen regardless of the consequences. Today, in addition to the fun, consider writing your own personal Declaration of Independence.
I’m not recommending a revolt against your government, but against anything you feel is restricting your personal freedom to attain your goals. Who, or what, do you need to free yourself from? Your personal declaration will not be graded, so feel free to plagierize the original! Members of Intent may find this process familiar!
Why are you declaring independence? – The founders began by justifying their intention:
“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separation.”
State Your Beliefs – What truths do you “hold…self-evident”? Write them down, particularly those relating to the recipient of your letter.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,[71] that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
List the Charges – This section is important, and longer in the original Declaration of Independence than I remembered. List the reasons you need independence and freedom.
“Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.”
Declare your Intent – What do you intend to do? Think about it, commit to it, and write it down. (Gee, sounds familiar?)
“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”
A group of people in the United States stated their intent, and we have been their beneficiaries for over two hundred years!
Happy Independence Day!
Comments are closed.