Top of the mornin' to you on this day of Irish celebration when everyone is Irish!  The O'Smiths, O'Jones, O'Giavanni's, O'Chen's, O'Vladimir's, O'Goldsmith's, O'Garcia's, and yes, the Obama's  are all Irish today!  Green and proud, we stand as one nationality today.  A part of me thinks it would be wonderful if we supported each other every day, but that is not how America was started.  Plus, there would be way too much drinking and green outfits to contend with on a daily basis.

Diversity is what makes this country unique.  The differences of ideas, nationalities and traditions.  Gradually, we seem to be more open and accepting of differences in people, but it has taken hundreds of years.  Change is slow because not many people are open to it, and to many, change is scary because the outcome is unpredictable.  We need to know that our decisions are going to be beneficial and an improvement over our prior situation.  But, we can't know that unless we try it out first.

Basically, this is the same problem we all have in life.  If I make a decision, will it be the right one?  Will it be an improvement or a disaster?  The responsibility is overwhelming.  That's why I leave the decision-making to someone else.  I do not want to be responsible for getting it wrong.  It is so much easier just to say, "Hey!  It wasn't my decision!  I would have never done it that way!"  No one can blame me, and I have no guilt regarding the destruction the other person caused.  I can almost be the hero when they all come to me and say, "Eileen, we should have let you decide.  This disaster would have been avoided!"  And I can be all humble and say, "Yes, you're probably right.  It should have been me."  See how I dodged the bullet there?

Now, when it comes time for a new decision, we need a new excuse to avoid it and pass it to someone else.  Thinking of new ways of avoidance can be difficult, but not impossible.  I have used, "I have a terrible cold, which may have turned to pneumonia, and I need a LOT if rest."  Or, "I need to plan meals for the needy for the rest of the year."  Or, "I haven't cleaned my house in ages, and it will take me at least the rest of my life to get it in order."  See how easy that is?  Much easier than making a decision.

Therefore, on this St. Paddy's day, embrace the culture and exuberance of the Irish.  Think about also accepting and acknowledging the rest of American cultures in the future.  Life in this country and the world would be much more peaceful if we could be more tolerant of the differences in people.  And let someone else make the decisions!  That is just too much responsibility!  I should have applied that to a job offer I had recently when I told the man I was not the right person for the job.  What made me think I should make that decision??  See, that was just wrong and it won't happen again.  We all make mistakes.  Why?  Because we are all the basically the same.  Happy St. Paddy's Day!!