Audacity

Audacity is such a great word. According to the dictionary, it means "boldness or daring, especially with confident or arrogant disregard for personal safety, conventional thought, or other restrictions." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was definitely an audacious man.

When he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, he shared his audacity -- featured in the inscription in today's image -- with the world. He believed that mankind was capable of providing a just, compassionate and free world for all people. He "assumed the sale" as they say in marketing. He accepted the premise that a equal world was not only possible, but inevitable if more people had the audacity to make it happen.

In this very cynical world, we need a lot more people with audacity. I often wonder if using the word audacity in his bestselling memoir, The Audacity of Hope, helped Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States. We look for boldness and daring in our leaders. Tying audacity to hope made him an appealing candidate for the presdiency. When we're looking for change, we are look for people who have the strength, courage and audacity to hope for a better tomorrow.

But here's the thing about audacity, it needs to be constant for others to trust in it. Any falter or interruption to audacity 's progress by fear or negativity generates doubt and distrust. If only President Obama had found a way to maintain the audacity he displayed on the campaign trail during his presidency. If he wants to return for a second term of office, Obama and his administration must find a way to reclaim voters' confidence in his ability to resolve the problems facing the country and get them to believe in his audacity to create a more hopeful future for all Americans.