Chapter 12
Drafting a SAL
DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE
Of the 102 passengers who made this faith-filled embarkation, only half of them survived that first frigid and frosty winter. But unlike the failed Jamestown experiment of 1607, the Pilgrims of Massachusetts were here to stay. Indeed, 166 years later, the original 50 survivors of the Mayflower voyage had multiplied into two million North American persons of European descent.
In fact, I myself am directly descended from several couples who sailed on and/or signed onto its legendary eponymous COMPACT, which document represented the formal beginnings of DEMOCRACY in those environs that would eventually be part of the United States of America. (1)
During the course of the following 16-and-a-half decades, a culture and unity developed independent of Great Britain and other European Countries who had been feeding the growing population of North America. In time, the "American" Colonists began to resent the power and authority exercised over them by their English overlords. The British practice of taxing the Colonists without granting them due political representation in London's Parliament became an extra thorny burr under the Colonist's saddles.
In what has since become one of Planet Earth's most famous historical, political, philosophical, and moral documents, these disparate States united to "solemnly publish and declare that [they] ... are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; [and] that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown."
Underscoring the absolute determination, sincerity, and resolve of the collective, Jefferson held nothing back in the document, closing it out with prose that was as audacious as it was eloquent:
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
Each of the 55 then affixed his signature to the document, knowing full well that if their experiment were to fail, they were autographing their own certificate of execution.
Time, of course, has long vindicated the course chosen by these extraordinary human beings and leaders. But we in the present must never forget that these men were remarkable not merely because their experiment succeeded, but because they were willing to risk it all on the gamble that it would succeed—when the prospects of success must have seemed dim at best to any rationally-minded person.
After all, this rag-tag upstart nation of 2.5 million (2) was not picking a fair fight. Their Mother Country and adversary—the mighty British Empire—had been the world's Superpower for nearly 200 years, since Queen Elizabeth's Royal Navy defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, and would continue to reign supreme around the Globe for another 150 years into the future. It had a population five (5) times that of the Colonies and the strongest military in the world.
Yet these 55 men—and the citizen-leaders who elected them to their posts—believed strongly enough in LIBERTY and FREEDOM to exercise the FAITH required to put their VISION to the test.
Along the way, they identified several key values, including: Equality, Liberty, Democracy, Free Markets, and the Christian Work Ethic. These values—and the vision they spawned—were sufficiently compelling to convince those 55 intelligent, well-educated, and influential leaders—and those who would rally around them—that the REWARD was worth the risk, high and heavy though the risk was!
They were right...
It was worth the risk!
It was a monumental movement that would later influence and evoke cries of "Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité throughout France in the decade to come, and later lead to constitution-based and democratically-elected central governmental structures throughout all the world.
Suffice it to say, human beings the all over the globe owe a debt of gratitude to the Founding Fathers, Mothers, and Citizen-Soldiers of the United States of America, whose courageous, noble, and visionary leadership brought about the gradual end of absolute monarchy and autocracy for a large list of nations around the globe that continues to grow even today.
While YOU may not be declaring literal independence from a physical enemy in your own Self-DoI, this powerful and motivating SAL exercise gives you the chance to declare your independence from all kinds of metaphysical enemies within that are currently pulling you down and inhibiting or curtailing your growth and progress.
These internal enemies may come in the form of addictions, counterproductive attitudes and habits, ignorance and/or erroneous ideas and notions, past mistakes, present temptations, and all kinds of other obstacles.
Chances are that you also face external enemies in the form of existential crabs, negative peer pressure, and toxic relationships among your family members and/or friends.
What exactly is keeping you from accomplishing your goals and realizing your potential up the SAL Hierarchy? The purpose of your SAL DoI is to recognize and acknowledge whatever internal and external enemies may be inhibiting your personal potential and freedom—and then resolve that no self-sacrifice is too great for the sake of casting off these impediments. This formal statement affirms that YOU are greater than your circumstances and shortcomings, and that they will not define your future.
Rather, YOU will be the one to define and determine your future!
EXERCISE #12
Take time to read and study the American Declaration of Independence. Then, on the blank pages provided below, compose a Personal Statement declaring your own INDEPENDENCE from the external forces / people and internal influences / habits that currently limit your personal freedom and Existential Growth.
Begin by composing an introductory statement that summarizes your feelings and desires for personal change.
Then, make a list of specific enemies (internal and/or external) from which/whom you intend to formally DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENCE.
In PERSONAL PLANNING, this _______ Day of ____________________, __________
Self-Action Leadership
Declaration of Independence
of
_______________________________________________________
Print Name
When in the course of my life's journey, it becomes necessary to:
Take as much space as needed in your SAL Journal to record your thoughts here...
I hereby declare my personal Independence from:
Take as much space as needed in your SAL Journal to record your thoughts here...
_______________________________________________________
Your Signature
_______________________________________________________
Witness Signature
_______________________________________________________
Witness Signature
_______________________________________________________
Date
- Did you enjoy writing your SAL DoI? Why or why not?
- What were some of your thoughts and feelings while engaging in this introspective and very personal exercise?
- Does having a SAL DoI inspire and/or motivate you to work harder and focus more on transcending Existential Gravity to earn Existential Growth up the SAL Hierarchy? Why or why not?
—Dr. JJ
Author's Note: This is the 441st Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013 and the 244th consecutive weekly blog published since August 31, 2020.
Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 440 FF Blog Articles
Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL QUOTES
Click HERE for a complete listing of Freedom Focused SAL POEMS
Click HERE to access the FULL TEXT of Dr. JJ's Psalms of Life: A Poetry Collection
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Chapter 12 Notes
1. Dr. JJ's Mayflower ancestors include (Compact signers in BOLD):
John Tilley (1571-1621) and Joan Hurst (1571-1621) — my 11th Great-Grandparents
John Howland (1592-1672) and Elizabeth Tilley (1607-1687) — my 10th GG
Edward Fuller (1575-1621) and Mrs. Edward Fuller (Ann) (1575-????) — My 10th GG
Samuel Fuller (1608-1683) and Jane Lathrop (1614-1683) — My 9th GG
Click HERE to view the full list of those who signed the Mayflower Compact.
2. There were about two million persons of European descent in the 13 Colonies in 1776. Another half million native Americans and African slaves brought the total population to 2.5 million.
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