Fourth of July seems to be a good day for me to pontificate about what loyalty means. 

First off, I'd like to differentiate loyalty and love. It's easy to confuse them because love usually leads to loyalty, but I think you can be very loyal to something you don't love. And very rarely, we have to sever our loyalty despite our love. 

And loyalty is also different than duty. We may have an obligation or a debt that we feel duty-bound to honor. But we may not feel loyalty.

So loyalty is a feeling, sometimes inexpressible. When I am loyal to a person, thing or idea, I have no trouble remembering what that person, thing or idea needs to flourish. I protect it and support it as much as I can. Sometimes my loyalty may not be clear because I am putting resources another place, but the key is that I remember. And because I remember, I will avoid hurting the object of my loyalty and will support it as much as I can.

The best definition I found is "firm or constant support to a person." I disagree with everyone who defines loyalty as action, because unless that action is preceded by a feeling of loyalty, it could stop at any time. 

Wow, I don't often write a blog post that isn't full of links!