Change Agent - Issue 53

If our faith in our system goes away, our passion disappears as well. If all we do is move goods safely from one point to another, we will have lost sight of the bigger picture. Our world is about taking risks. It's about inventing new products and better ways of working, and delivering the insights and improvements that contribute to a better life for everyone.

Here's something you can bank on: One handed molly isn't about to give up. They know the world is a happier, more thoughtful place when they're playing music. And they love to make it. They're willing to invest in their music, to take chances with their music, to run their own recording studio and their own marketing effort just so that they can reach their audience. That's what they have faith in -- and their faith seems pretty hard to shake.

Here's what I have faith in: Our country and the rest of the industrialized world are onto something. Allowing individuals to think, to dream, and to make their visions a reality is the way to reach our potential as humans. Overthrowing our fears and embracing an uncertain future is the most productive, most lucrative, most entertaining, and most worthwhile way we can spend our time.

Surviving isn't enough. It's not enough for us to hunker down and live from day to day, looking over our shoulders and fearing for our future. Today, more than ever, it's crystal clear what it means to be an American. What we stand for. What we demonstrate to the rest of the world.

The Statue of Liberty still stands, but, even more important, the goals, guts, and hard work of the American people remain untouched. I, for one, have decided to get back to work -- not just to a job, but to the work that I love, the kind of work that we all aspire to do. I just got off a flight from California, and it felt terrific to reclaim my freedom from fear. I'm going to invent things, start things, and teach.

As long as we believe in the dream that is America, we win. Faith will be rewarded.

Seth Godin (sgodin@fastcompany.com) is the author of Unleashing the Ideavirus (Hyperion, 2001) . Find out more about this book (and his others) on the Web (www.ideavirus.com) .