I hopped off the stationary bike today soaking wet… Out of breath.
So out of breath, so pushed to the limits, my body was shaking.
Everything hurts, but this is what it takes, I silently tell myself.
This is what it takes. The Work. The focus. The drive. The resilience.
So many other things are happening to my mind and body when I take myself here… When I take myself to the limits.
Clearly outside of my comfort zone… Clearly beyond anywhere those voices in my head want me to go.
But, this is what it takes.
This is what it takes to get those hormonal responses I’m looking for…
To achieve those spirts of athletic growth and development…
I fight today so I have the rights tomorrow…
The right to push myself harder tomorrow than I ever could have a moment ago…
This is what it takes…
This is what also yields flashes of clarity…
A mental clarity, a knowing, and new ideas.
Maybe even just a new sense of gratitude.
I wobble into the other room… Cycling shoes still on.
Panting, half-way collapsing in front of my laptop keyboard… I fire it up.
This is what it takes.
The words begin channeling… 2 new book ideas emerge… But then a third idea comes forth…
One of those senses of gratitude I previously mentioned. It was gratitude for life.
Which quickly morphed into the gratitude of the legends… The giants who came before me…
The geniuses and the relentless who tore down the invisible barriers and who built the unbreakable shoulders I stand on…
Those who fought for what they believed in… Who fought for their dreams…
The individuals who developed the technology for me to be able to write these words… To facilitate my message be heard…
And for those who fought for the rights that protect me…
The rights that gave my life new hope… A new beginning… And a new meaning.
This is what it takes.
We don’t realize how good we have it… How much greatness is inside of us already…
And the incredible protection we’re grandfathered with today without a single additional sacrifice to receive it.
Our greatness and rights today are too often taken for granted …
One we were born with… The other was fought for…
One is given upon life… The other was given upon death…
This is what it takes.
Between the news and RSS feeds… It’s easy to forget about the past…
The history behind the present blessings…
And while it is the best of times…
It is also the worst of times…
Today, this federal holiday, is one of the best days to celebrate the rights we’re now born with…
But there is plenty more sacrifice to give…
There are more fights to win as there is more death to celebrate.
Not the end of life… But celebrating the death of limited American perception.
America… Be true to what is put down on paper.
This is what it takes.
I am the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender.
I am the wounded warrior and the protester.
I am both the girl getting birth control and the other getting an abortion.
I am the abled and the disabled.
I am the voter and the politician.
I am the black and the white.
And so are you.
We’ve got some difficulties ahead…
But I’ve been to the mountain top.
I’ve looked over… And I’ve seen the promised land.
I want you to know today… That we as a people will get to the promised land.
Because we are not done fighting, advocating, and creating the right change…
That’s what it takes.
And because of these unbreakable shoulders the leaders before us forged…
We stand here today.
We are blessed to be born into a world of civil rights…
But I still have a dream…
Thoughts become things… And I think about how we can make it better.
How we can make everything accessible for every individual…
Everything for everyone, regardless of circumstance.
Not just because it’s the right thing to do…
Because it is a civil right.
Thank you Dr. King for putting us many steps closer to the promised land.
I love you…
Tanner Gers
Director of Strategic Planning and Communications