Despite everything going on in our country today, we often take for granted all of the reasons that makes being an American worth celebrating. It's easy to celebrate America on days such as Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day because those days are set aside to honor America. We wear red, white, and blue, have picnics and set off fireworks. However, we should not only celebrate a few days of the year, we should truly appreciate it everyday.

No matter what your political party or view is, you can still be celebrating America. Personally, I am not a very political person. I am affiliated with a political party, but I am not going to get into that here. When celebrating America, I definitely do not focus on anything political. We just shouldn't. There is more to our country than politics and arguing over Democratic or Republican views. There are many other aspects of being an American and living in the United States that are worth appreciating.

America is a land of opportunity. There is so much opportunity here that we can and should take advantage of. Many come here dreaming of a better life because they see the opportunity in the U.S. to make life better for themselves and their family. Being born here means that we were born into the opportunity that is at our fingertips if we work hard enough to achieve it. Being an American does not mean that these opportunities will come easy because they will not for all of us. Nothing worth having comes easy. The beauty of it is that we have the freedom to chase after all of these opportunities!

Next is freedom! We are so so lucky to live in a country where we have so many freedoms. This is an aspect that is taken for granted a whole lot. We can celebrate our independence knowing that we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and many other freedoms outlined. We have the freedom to live our life the way we choose to live. We can change the path of our life freely because of the limitless options that are in front of us. Many other countries do not have the same freedoms and sometimes I think we fail to realize this. The life that some citizens in foreign countries have is totally different from ours. We are fortunate to have the independence that we have to choose how we live our lives while others do not have those same freedoms, so we let's remember how grateful we can be for this on days other than Independence Day.

Finally, America is so beautiful! Take a little bit of time to take in God's creation. It's breathtaking, isn't it? The oceans stretching along the coast, the huge mountain ranges, the sunrises, the sunsets, the state parks, the communities around us, and so much more. America sure does have some pretty amazing sites to see whether those be ones that you travel to and see or those that are as simple as walking outside your back door and looking up at the sky or the nature around you just where you are. Although these may just be considered "little things", they can open our eyes to the beauty that is around us and I don't know about you, but taking in this natural beauty really does make me appreciate our country more and more.

So, if you take anything away from this article, I hope you take some time to reflect on how blessed we are to live in America. 2020 has been an interesting year so far where I feel that there has been a lot of negativity surrounding the pandemic, racial justice protests, or the upcoming presidential election. Let's look past the negative and instead focus on our blessings. As Americans, we should show our country some love and celebrate it everyday, not just a couple days out of the year.