Aspirations.

In life we often look upward to determine what we want to do, often time without taking a look around to see if there are better options available to us. Sure that’s an easy statement to make, however many of us do focus on climbing the rungs of the corporate ladder, becoming that remarkable athlete, or better yet the next phenomena on Broadway---all the while knowing these dreams may not be attainable.

But what about those who want to be our “public servants?”

What? Yes that’s another name for politicians; to me they are anything but servants to the people, more like vice versa, but who am I to take odds with this moniker?

As the political season heats up, millions and millions of dollars will be spent in convincing local, regional and the national populace of who to vote for in the upcoming November elections. Oh, and for those who are not counting the days, the Presidential election is about 2 years and 9 months from now. That should be entertaining.

In Illinois, the race for governor should be right up there with Wrestlemania; the mudslinging and bad mouthing of one candidate to another should be one of the most vicious and dirtiest elections since, well…the last election. Seems like Illinois elections are notorious for being really mean spirited. So why would anyone want to run for office? They want to be our servants of course.

Have you ever had contact with an elected official? I would not say they are servants since they pretty much control the happenings of what we do in life---from laws, to tax reforms, to many other initiatives. In other words, I think we are the servants. But then again, I have no desire to ever run for public office so I really will never know what it’s like to have to shake hands for votes, kiss babies and walk in parades down Main Street during the 4th of July, Columbus Day and/or other holidays throughout the year.

The photo above was taken at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC; the exhibit features the commissioned paintings of every U.S. President---from Washington to “W.” Not sure if they have President Obama’s portrait up as of yet, but it will be there. If it’s anything like Former President Clinton’s portrait you will likely ask for your money back---it’s that bad. However, there are some really wonderful portraits in the hall. Hey, if anything, one of the best reasons for running for the “highest office in the land” is you get to have your picture painted.

Thanks for stopping by.