Life is What We Make It

My name is Kevin Shinn. I am the Fire Chief for the City of Huntsville and a retired educator and the Head Soccer Coach for Huntsville High School.

 

More, I am blessed to be the husband of Angie, the father of Kristyn, Adam and Nikki, the grandfather of Kynadee and Kendyl, and the son of Harry and Pattie Shinn. I love my community, my state and my country and these pages reflect my views on faith, family, friends and the activities we choose to be a part of in our daily lives.

I grew up in an exciting, turbulent era of American history. The Baby Boom Generation was coming of age and the status quo was under assault by progressives on multiple fronts. My political philosophy was born based upon the simple concepts that Americans should have the right to live however they wished as long as they did no harm to others and that it was the role of government to even the playing field between the common man and the rich and powerful. A little later, my foreign policy views were established based upon the understanding that the United States holds a special place in history when it comes to providing a beacon of hope to oppressed people everywhere and the responsibility of defending freedom in the world. As one should expect, those views have evolved and become more nuanced as I have matured and become more knowledgeable.

My heroes are those who sacrificed in order to make the world a better place.

John F. Kennedy. JFK is remembered as much for the potential lost as the accomplishments he made but his service in the Navy and his evolution as President were truly inspiring.

Martin Luther King, Jr. King was a reluctant hero who was more comfortable in the pulpit but saw an evil and set out to correct it.

Robert Kennedy. Like JFK, Robert Kennedy is remembered more for what he inspired than what he accomplished. At a time when our nation was struggling with racial injustice and poverty, Kennedy spoke up for the disenfranchised.

Characters of John Wayne. I loved his movies growing up and continue to watch them today. For awhile, as I learned of Wayne's political leanings, I quit watching his movies. As I aged, I learned to separate actors from the characters they portrayed on the screen and determined I could accept the one without embracing the other. Wayne's characters followed the same basic code regardless of the specific movie plot. Do right. Be prepared to sacrifice for what you believe. Life is tough; you have to be tougher. Be compassionate for those in true need.

 

 

It is my personal philosophy that life sucks. Bad things happen to good people every day. It is through our faith, family, friends, and the activities we choose to be a part of that we make life better. Some people struggle with their faith. We don't always have control over who our family is or what kind of people they are. Our friends are not always the best influence or able to meet our needs. But the activities we choose to be a part of and the attitudes we choose to hold are our own. They define us. They guide us. Today, I choose to try and make the world a better place to live in because it is what I choose to do.

I firmly believe that life is what we make it; not what we wish it to be. We cannot control much of what life does to us but we can determine how we will react to every situation.

We know that the economy is changing and that 70% of all low-skilled jobs will be replaced by automation within the next 20 years. We know that millions of hardworking Americans will find themselves qualified for jobs that no longer exist.

We know that without an adult education system in place to help them, our social safety net will be overwhelmed and good people will needlessly suffer.

We know that Vladimir Putin is working to restore Russia to the glory of the Soviet Union and in order for that to happen, the United States must surrender our commitment to our international alliances.

We know that China is expanding their influence around the world while at the same time facing increasing internal pressure as their economy begins to cool.

We know that as the European Union weakens, our position in the world is in peril without strong allies.

The question becomes not what we know but what will we do?

The world my granddaughters will grow up in will be significantly different than the one I did. Technology is not only changing how we do things, it is fundamentally transforming who we are as a nation.

 

My call is not to those who believe they belong to the past. My call is to those who believe in the future. John F. Kennedy