Voices Of The Fallen

You consider your life and the troubles you may have. You wonder why things are always happening to you, why your life is so tough. There are so many things that can trouble us in our daily life.

But each of us see the news each day concerning the war in Iraq. It can seem like a distant event occurring so far away from our daily lives. But each of those American service men and women are just like you and me. They are fighting many different radical groups among Iraqi people that simply want to have a life at all.

Due to this distance, we don't see the connections beyond the politics of war and the thirty second sound bites or even commentary from the experts. Yet a recent issue of Newsweek Magazine called Voices Of The Fallen gives you another view on what is happening half a world away. The emails and letters from soldiers that eventually died reveal pieces of the war that a news story simply can not.

You find all levels of opinion and commentary just as you would walking down the street talking to people. I am proud of what these individuals, the soldiers along aside their Iraqi Military counterparts - trying to provide a more stable and brighter future for the Iraqi people. And when I think about how tough my day was, I can stop and remember what a tougher day these others have had.

Stop yourself and consider what you have in life. Think about others that do have it so much worse. Think about where you are on that scale to place it into perspective. Be thankful for what you do have and then work towards a better future, a better life.