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With Resolve, We Can Do Better
As we recently celebrated our Independence Day on July 4th, it is important to remember how the United States came to be. It was a group of men and women, living under the rule of a foreign country, in a place that was now their home, yet they didn’t have the freedom to run their new land in a way they saw fit. The result was a rebellion, one of course we all know led to a free and independent United States of America. But it was a long, arduous, and taxing war, one that required a great deal of guile, tactic, and above all, resolve.
Fast forward to 2016. The U.S. has grown to over 300 million people and the world, to over 7 billion people. With so many people, there is great diversity in terms of race, religion, social and economic status, creed, and more. As a result, there are naturally conflicts of various kinds and innocent people are affected. Recently, 49 people were murdered in a gay nightclub in Orlando where they were simply enjoying an evening on the town. Not more than a week later, suicide bombers detonated bombs in Istanbul, Turkey, killing dozens. Most recently, in Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew up a truck full of explosives killing hundreds in a popular gathering area.
These heartbreaking and senseless acts to tear humanity apart, pin us against each other to divide us. But we must continue to have resolve. We must believe in each other. We should not let differences in beliefs and a way of life deter us from being better to one another. We can do better. We must do better.
The Make Life Good Company will donate $5.00 to the victims of these tragedies for each t-shirt sold that features our “Resolve” and “We Can Do Better” designs.
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Make Life Good. Honor Our Fallen.
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance. A day to honor those who have fallen in their service of this great country. While you might find yourself distracted by the BBQs, music, parties, and excitement over the coming summer season, the flowers with which we decorate the graves of our soldiers remind us how much we’ve lost—and how much we’ve gained from those losses.
Memorial Day demands a personal reflection from each and every one of us. It calls on us to assess our situations. It urges us to appreciate how far we’ve come and to continue working to go even further.
Whether you have been directly affected by a soldier’s sacrifice for the United States of America or not, most can identify with the feeling of a “debt” that is owed. The feeling that, in the face of such tremendous sacrifice, you and I must do our part to continue developing this country. We must work, contribute, give…that way, the vision our cherished fought for may be realized.
This vision is likely one we won’t ever come to see with our own eyes. It entails incredible amounts of time, energy, tolerance, and compassion. So long as we remember, however, to not waste our time, to invest our energy into virtuous ventures, to practice tolerance everyday with everyone, and to show compassion to our fellow citizens, we will make progress.
We at Make Life Good believe that progress is an acceptable and appropriate “monument” to our heroes. We incorporate this belief into our business and seek to inspire others to make progress in the same way we have been inspired ourselves. This Memorial Day, and every day, make a point of reflecting and remembering. Do what you can to honor our heroes and make a lasting impression in your community.
Make Life Good. Honor Our Fallen.
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I Run To “Make Life Good” For Others
It’s a basic human movement, putting one’s foot in front of the other. This simple movement, running, is used as a physical outlet for some, pounding the roads or trails enjoying the changing colors of the seasons, snow melting revealing the green signaling spring.
For others, it’s an emotional outlet, something that provides an environment of calm and escape from stresses at home and work, the place where you can go to forget and tame former addictions or obesity and create a sense of hope and accomplishment.
Running is also a simple and powerful endeavor where millions of people worldwide get out and move to raise awareness and money to fight disease, support emotional wounds of soldiers, raise money for families in need, help children receive a better educational opportunity, among many so many other charitable purposes.
On March 26th, 2016, The Make Life Good Company was fortunate enough to support CharityTeams.org (www.CharityTeams.org), led by company co-founder Mike’s long- time friend, Susan Hurley, during her team’s run from Hopkinton to Chestnut Hill during their training run of 21 miles in preparation for this year’s Boston Marathon. This incredible group of runners (in addition to other similar groups of runners) raise millions of dollars every year in support of dozens of organizations - all to “make life good” for their friends, family and even strangers. Every footstep is a step closer to running the 26.2 miles of the marathon, and with every step, the hope of making a difference becomes louder and louder in their minds as it does with crowds lined on the streets of Boston. The personal victory is only surpassed by the work each individual has done to raise awareness, and funds, for their particular cause.
I have raced the Boston Marathon twice and raised money for various charities in the process. So I know first hand how extremely difficult it is for the all the runners who are part of CharityTeams.org, and the many other groups, trying to raise money for their organizations.
So with all that said, we at The Make Life Good Company have created a unique “runners” t-shirt inspired by CharityTeams.org and all the racers running for charity with the slogan "I Run To Make Life Good For Others." Check it out here: bit.ly/1oqvjnv.
So, if you are running any race for charity, and you purchase our specially-designed t-shirt, please let us know your charity and your fundraising page (You can give us this information on our check-out page in a “note” to us.) Then, we will distribute this information to all of our social media outlets to help you with your final push to your goal.
Or, if you’d like to purchase our t-shirt but do not have a charity, please go to www.charityteams.org and pick one of the charities listed on the “races and services” tab and then “Boston” to get a list. Choose the one you’d like to support.
Whichever option you select, we will donate $5.00 to the charity you’ve chosen for each tee you purchase.
I, like you, run to “make life good” for others!
Mike Sullivan, Co-Founder
The Make Life Good Company
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We Can Do Better
As a teacher at the collegiate level, I am sometimes asked by my International students to “explain” America. It’s a big topic! So I simply respond by saying that we “make big mistakes and then we correct them.” It is not an admission of failure. It is an expression of success. My intention is to convey our willingness to do so, as compared to countries that perpetuate policies and ideas that aren’t good for their people. We knew we could do better.
We see numerous examples of this in our history. We withheld the right to vote from women. We engaged in the practice of slavery. We restricted the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman versus all people who love one another, an issue still playing itself out in our society today. We allege that we are tolerant of all religions, and yet for some religions, maybe not so much. These issues, too, will be resolved over time. Because we do the right thing. Our history has proven that people knew that we could do better, and they did.
In Martin Luther King’s carefully crafted speech at the Reflecting Pool, he suggested, in an ever so delicate way, that America had not fulfilled the promise of equality crafted by its forefathers to our Nation’s people. To all of its people. In other words, Martin Luther King knew we could do better.
The people of our nation face such challenges today, such as human rights, poverty, education, nutrition, health care, housing, and more. It seems the more we work to address them, the target that we strive to achieve keeps moving. The capacity of people to volunteer their time toward this end never ceases to amaze us here at The Make Life Good Company.
And it seems that no matter how much we’ve done as a people, and no matter how much the target moves, we know that we can still do better. Given our history, we know we will. Given the urgency, we should start now.
We hope to meet you on the road to doing better and making life good for all.
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - The Voice of Equality
During the Civil Rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the voice of equality for African Americans. There were many representatives during this movement, among the most memorable being Rosa Parks and Malcolm X, who all in their own ways, through their actions and words, led a non-violent movement for the benefit of all people in the U.S.
We realize the goal of Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement was to promote and realize equity of all minority groups—but it did so much more. People were forced to open up their minds, putting themselves in the position of the oppressed. They were forced to open their hearts, seeing beyond skin color and to the content of their character. This is an outcome Dr. King surely strived for.
However, we have seen times both in the United States and abroad that contradict and compromise all that Dr. King and his predecessors fought for. President Obama, in his recent State of the Union address encouraged and challenged citizens of this country to voice our opinions and identify ourselves as people of one nation of truth and unconditional love.
We at The Make Life Good Company think that we can all be and do better. Soon we will have products available that represent this thought as well as one that illustrates Dr. King's messages.Let's all remember Dr. King's contributions to our society this upcoming Martin Luther King Day holiday and thorughout the year.
The Make Life Good Team
