My inbox is full. Full of reaction, reflection, and analysis about Tuesday's US election.
Reactions are easy to come by, which is understandable, as this is where we often begin.
Reacting, responding, reflecting
When I wrote What to Do When Someone Throws You a Flaming Beach Ball I was talking about adjusting our tendency to react rather than respond to things. We have more options and far less distress when we learn to respond.
Reacting is what makes our blood boil, our head explode, our heart blow a gasket. Responding is when we basically let that flaming beach ball land in the sand beside us before picking it up—if we even decide to pick it up at all.
In a tiny little nutshell, we're running on emotion alone when we react rather than respond, and emotions will jerk us around in a hot second.
I'm looking for reflections and analyses more than I am in reactions at this point.
That's not to say, though, that I don't care how people feel, because I care a lot.
Handling emotions
The outcome of this election is why one of the skills we need is the skill of managing our thoughts and feelings. I'm not talking about mere control here—I'm talking about acknowledging and addressing our emotions.
Otherwise we're at a complete loss when our world is rocked. We have little to no resources to handle giant things like enormous shock, disappointment, fear, and anger.
It's interesting, of course, that some people don't feel these things after Tuesday. They may even feel the exact opposite.
And sure, we can blame their morality, their character, their poor judgment, etc., but that's missing the real issue. We'll always disagree with people, maybe even vehemently.
Because the difference in how we react to something compared to how someone else does lies in what we think of the situation.
Perception
Right now we have a situation where some people think one thing, some people think another thing, and some people think something else altogether. This is all based on perception, not the circumstance itself.
It's awful news to some and great news to others, and others aren't that affected one way or the other.
It's a matter of perception.
As for me, I'm choosing not to judge character over this. I'm going about my life with the intention of extending respect for the dignity of every human being.
That's not to say I like everyone, like everyone's way of thinking or voting, or even that I respect everyone's actual vote.
But I do respect the human behind the vote.
This is everything to me.
Continuing on
I'm not blind to the fact that some people view this election as the worst outcome that we could have possibly had, and that people are bracing for the absolute ruin of all progress in the US based on this election.
I know how upset (some) people are.
At the same time, life goes on, and so will I.
I'll keep up with the current news and with the upcoming administration. I'll watch what's happening these next four years, maybe more than ever.
I'll continue to try to treat people with kindness. I'll continue to look for the best in people and not the worst.
I'll continue to be a nice driver, a patient waiter-in-lines, a good tipper, a door-holder, and a generally open-minded, live-and-let-live person.
I'm not changing who I am based on these election results.
And I'm not changing how I treat other people, regardless of anyone's vote—other than trying to be a bit more gentle, a bit kinder, a bit more understanding and open-minded.
I don't actually believe that my fellow humans are out to get me or even suppress me. I know that's a countercultural viewpoint, and I know that's not what I'm "supposed" to be thinking.
But I'm bucking the system that says I'm "supposed" to be more afraid, disappointed, angry, sad, and worried than ever right now.
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