United We Fear, No One Wins

There are just 36 days left.  36 days as we all try to manage it all through our everyday lives of what has become a new (somewhat crazy) normal. I will admit, my anxiety grows with every passing hour we get closer to that fateful day. Yes, I am speaking of election day.

Election years have never been easy for our young country. Now mix up a batch of a global pandemic, sprinkle in forced quarantines, racial tensions at their highest, financial chaos, the height of social media, 24 hour crowd source news, click bate articles, and then add a dash of existing political division, you have a recipe for disaster.  A nation ready to explode.

I know I do not stand alone in this statement, but I am terrified of the aftermath of election day.  This is not a political statement. It is not a statement about who is or is not the President of our country.  Whatever my political belief, I understand the office of the president has limited power, on purpose, with a checks and balance system. I understand that the president can only serve 4 years before the people get to speak again.  This is a statement on the state of our nation, not specific to the outcome of the election. Because the fear is in the end, whomever is announced as our countries Commander and Chief, there will be no true winner if we are not careful.

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hear day after day from my mom friends with kids that are adolescence to teens who are dealing with anxiety, sleep issues, and depression due to the constant noise and fighting around them.  I see the studies showing adults drinking more, sleeping less, with violence on the rise.  Families are turning against each other from every issue discussed right now whether it is wearing a mask in public, the support of the Black Lives Matter movement, or who should be president.  Literally, turning against each other.  My own family has experienced this. The hard debates have broken families and friends who have spent decades having fun arguments over other hard topics.  The temperature of today has seemingly crossed the line into a zone we cannot control.

So, yes election day scares me, as it should every American right now.  If the lack of guns and ammo on the shelves is a sign, I think most are scared.  I want to gather my loved ones under lock and key. I want to protect everyone I care about because I do not know what will happen anymore than I can predict who will win the election.  I just know the outcome will not have any true winners if we keep going in this direction as a society.  I have seen the devastation in countries where neighbors turned on neighbors and all I thought at the time was – never in THIS Country.  Now I just hope and pray – Oh God…Not in THIS Country.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Even with the fear, I am forever an optimist and I really do believe there are many more good people in this world than bad.  A big part of me still has hope election day will come and go, a President will be named and we will all move on together to continue to solve our challenges, fight the fights, and cheer for our victories. I have hope that my fellow Americans do remember that whoever is elected is so temporarily and are under a checks and balance system. Before we know it, election year will be upon us again, and will remember the best way to change the system is to be a part of the system.

I do know those could be naïve hopes, but I will choose to believe for now and try to keep my fear at bay.  It will be up to the individual how they react to the news.  Whether they feed into the social media frenzies, believe the conspiracies that bound to appear, argue with loved ones, pick a fight with strangers, or unfortunately join in on the violence should it arise as many fear it may.  Each person must make the choice to work within the systems that allow our democratic freedoms to stand or give into the chaos that will most definitely lead us to a dark place or possibly civil war. It is a choice we all must make for ourselves, our families, our children, and our country. I hope we choose wisely.

You can’t control other peoples behavior, but you can control your responses to it.”

~Roberta Cava

I vow I will choose to continue to love my family, friends, and neighbors no matter who they voted for and try to make the changes I want to see with the tools and resources at my disposable. I will push through the noise and look for the truth. I will continue to educate myself to understand all perspectives better and really know what is happening in this world. On November 4th, I vow to not let the ignorance, anger, nor hate win or change me. I will continue to manage it all as best as I can and hope the world doesn’t change too much around me.

So, let us all exercise our right to vote on November 3^rd, a right that so few in this world get so freely. I do not take it for granted. And afterward I hope we all remember that no one is the winner if there is not a United States of America standing when it is all said and done.

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