Hand over Your Heart

Hand over the heart

Matthew Thompson

APU/COLL100

Julie Duncan

                                                Web Link

http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mdc&AN=24622966&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Hand Over Your Heart

Gestures, signals, and expressions can determine whether others think of you as honest. The study performed here was based mainly on the action of speaking while placing the hand over the heart. I found the article very interesting and very true. Certain acts or behaviors trigger emotions and feelings in most human beings. I believe it is a learned skill not inherited so much. Just as Critical Thinking is something we are not only born with but must be taught. I believe this connection with emotions and integrity and body movements is a combination of the two.

Our Past and Our Future

Things change quickly in our world. From one week to the next a nation can change it’s whole foundation. Morals which seemed necessary 60 years ago seem alien to American children today. The Pledge of Allegiance meant something and it still does today but how much. Our Bill of Rights is still our Bill of Rights, and our Constitution is still the golden rule. Do I blame the schools? If I want to pass the buck but honestly it is my duty as a parent to instill in my girls the values that these documents bring out in a person. That act of saying the Pledge every day seemed so mundane when I was a child. I said it with my kids 1 week ago for the first time in years and I was brought to tears. Not for what it said but for what it stood for. Honesty and Integrity and a commitment to always be there for my country and my fellow man. I have not lived the most honest of lives since school let out 25 years ago but when my hand crossed my heart I felt like and honest man.

I do believe what the report states. That simple gestures can determine our integrity and honesty and how we are perceived. I hope for the countries future we bring back the days when all children knew to stand still and straight and salute the flag the allows us to live the way we do. Some people say we are the best country in the world. I say we have the ability to always be better, always try harder, and never forget where we got our start. Honesty and integrity are great values that we are setting aside. If the simple gesture of saying a speech with our hand over your heart has even the remotest ability to keep us on that path then I do believe we can continue to grow as a country and continue to motivate our youth for greater things.