“Today if anything is trying to hold you back, give no attention to it. Get your hopes up, get your faith up, look up, and get ready to rise up.”

Germany Kent

Can you tell when something is trying to hold you back? When something is standing in your way? How do you ignore a giant obstacle that appears in your path? How do you move past what seems insurmountable?

Like so much of the country, my family has been obsessed with “Hamilton” over the past month. Well, it’s been a lot longer than that. I’ll be we have watched it half a dozen times and I have lost count of how many times we have listened to the music over the past few years. It is simply incredible. As a musical theater buff, there is a long list of shows that I have seen over the years that I have loved, but there has been nothing like Hamilton. Every bit of this show is pure genius.

When I picked the quote for today I kept hearing the refrain from the song “My Shot,” which specifically is the latter part of the song “Rise Up.” I simply love this music and the story that is being conveyed. If you haven’t heard it, here is the refrain I am referencing. Hamilton – Rise up!

There is no reason that Alexander Hamilton should have been successful. In fact, there are a million reasons that he should have failed before he ever came to the mainland. But he prevailed. He succeeded in the face of the greatest odds. He got the job done…

There is a lesson in this simple refrain. No matter what stands in our way we have a choice. We can let it beat us. Or we can rise up. We can overcome. We can prevail. Who knows, if we do it often enough, and with enough fervor, perhaps someone will write songs about us one day…