Just my humble opinion

The other day I said all my writings are my own opinions unless otherwise noted - so here goes!
I woke up this morning to the news of the Tuscon shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is clinging to life at this writing. A real tragedy in our country. Not just for Rep. Giffords' family, friends, staff, and constituents, but for all of us. We have spent the last two years dividing this country into factions redolent of the Middle East and some South American countries. We have the Democrats, the Republicans, the Liberals, the Tea Party, and numerous others; and for all these, there are separate groups within each. As we have evolved as a country, with all the experiences we have gone through since the formation of this union, we seem to have forgotten that the last time we had a division of country, we faced a civil war that destroyed families and communities. As we, the people, sit and complain about our government, and perform that armchair quarterbacking, it should be noted that there are those brave folks like Rep. Giffords who actually step up and do the work we complain and criticize. They see the reality of the job, and set aside (more times than we think) their own lives and wants for the task at hand. The next time you sit and criticize the government, think about your own job. There are so many times others assume you have it easy in the job you perform, while you know how hard it is to earn the money you do. If we continue to allow these issues that have been tearing at our cohesiveness to be the focus of our lives, while obliterating our sense of humanity and decency, we will see more of this violence, and ultimately fall as a country.
Make no mistakes about what I have written here. I make NO calls for secession or revolution. If I make any suggestions at all, it's to come back to sanity. Accept when you don't win, be respectful and gracious to others when you do, and treat others as you want to be treated, even when you don't agree with them. Debate is healthy, when you treat others with respect. And above all, don't let the issues and problems of the whole world overwhelm you.
There is a story I heard once about a man who saw all the world's problems and wanted to change them. He thought, the world is too big, I'll start with my city. But that was too big, so he decided to start with his street. That too, was too big, so he thought he'd start with his own house. He found that was still too big, so he started with himself. When he changed himself, he changed the world, by one person. We can all do that, I think!