And The Results Are In….

Hopefully, about this time the election has finally wound down.  Your newspaper is talking about other things; reporters have stopped interviewing people’s reactions, and those pesky election ads are gone (who is going to miss those?).  The election is over and the results are in.

When I was young, Memaw would take me with her to vote.  She would go into a voting booth that had a curtain (almost like a dressing room) in our high school’s gymnasium.  We were a very small town, so we only had one polling place.  I would stand outside the curtain, holding onto Memaw’s brown pocketbook (purse), and watch people.  It seemed that people liked to vote, so I knew when I was old enough I would vote too.

I never knew if Memaw was a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or any other political party.  She didn’t really discuss politics with me but, through her actions, I learned some strong life lessons about winning and losing.

Whether you win, lose, or draw in elections, sports teams, or fantasy football (yeah, mine is not doing well either), it is how you conduct yourself AFTER the game or competition that determines what type of person you are.  Let’s specifically talk about this election–from the presidency to the local school board.

If your candidate wins, do you handle yourself with grace?  You can celebrate your win but can you do it without making others feel bad because their candidate lost?

Are you grateful?  Whether your candidate won or lost, are you grateful that you got to have your voice heard by voting?  Are you grateful that we live in a country where we get to choose who we want, even if our choice does not get elected?

Are you optimistic?  Your candidate may not have won, but it doesn’t mean that the end is near!  It may mean that the future may be a little different.  Are you looking forward, maybe cautiously, at what that future may look like?  Even when the worst candidates get elected, there is always something good that comes from it.  Look for that good.  Don’t stay in the negative, thinking the future will be dark and horrible.  People may just surprise you.  There is always something positive you can find.  After all, in most aspects of your life, you make your own daily decisions that can bring a wonderful future.

Are you happy?  If your candidates won, good for you.  They will do wonderful things and yes, there will be times when they disappoint you.  Take the good and the bad and be happy it turned out the way you wanted it to.  Be happy if your candidates lost.  Yes, you may need a few days to “grieve” and resolve the fact that you didn’t get what you want.  We all feel that way sometime in our lives, and it is normal.  So go ahead and take some time to reconcile the fact that things didn’t go the way you wanted them to.  But then, be happy for your future.  The candidates you didn’t want will disappoint you but there will also be times that they will amaze you.  People do that all the time.  Again, take the good and the bad and be happy that there is still democracy and in a few years, you will get your chance again to vote for a candidate you want.  And, like everything in life, there is balance and you may win that election.

Have some grace in a world that has a lot of hate in it.  Be grateful we are still so privileged to live in that world.  Be optimistic because every day brings joy in some form.  Finally, be happy that if you win or lose, you control your future and who you want to be AFTER the results are in.

Did you vote? Let me know in the comments if you did or not and why.