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Search and Seizure
by Jennifer Iannolo

This time of year my thoughts drift longingly to the days when the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights actually meant something significant.  When life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were the only reasons a man had to give for chasing after his ideal existence. 

But that’s not what I want to discuss.  I have had enough of political discussions, and cannot wait for this bloody election to be finished.

Instead, I want to talk about a different kind of “search and seizure” — the kind that honors what the forefathers stood for in the first place.  I’m talking about dreams.

If we are introspective, we put a great deal of time into crafting the ideals by which we live, and by seeking them out in tangible form whenever possible.  If our standards are high, as they ought to be, the discovery of such rarities offers a delicious pleasure that can intoxicate the mind, body, and spirit.

Sometimes a vision is realized in the form of a breathtaking piece of art.  Other times it is presented in a job opportunity, or in a far-off adventure.  And if we are very, very fortunate, sometimes it is manifested in the form of another human being.

It is in such instances that we must reach out and seize what has appeared before us — to make it our own.  We cannot let it slip by in the hope that it will come around again, or in the naïveté that we will always have time to go back for it.  To do so is to leave such things to chance, fate, the universe, or Father Time.

Instead, we must grab it, hold it close, and ensure that we do our damnedest to keep it in our possession.  In the manner of a human being, I do not speak of involuntary imprisonment.  I do not mean keeping him captive — but captivated.

Do not let your dreams become stifled in the far recesses of your mind, only to let them grow mold and decay.  Pursue them with reckless abandon.  Break the rules if you have to.  But fervently conduct your search, and seize when the opportunity presents itself!      
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