My Vote

I hope you vote. I urge you to vote. No matter how you vote.

I am so tired of the disunity we have in the United States of America. I attribute some of it to a two-party system that has served us well in some points of history but has led us into a place in which some of us stand away from others and lob insults and accusations, others stand somewhere in the middle and are confused by the hatred being spewed from each side, and still others try to turn their backs and pretend none of it is happening..

“How could you possibly support…?”

“Don’t you even care about (insert issue)…?

“There’s no hope so why even vote?”

I don’t know that your specific vote is going to make a direct impact on the election, but it is valuable because it reflects your engagement in the process of your country, where you live, the aspects of it you support even among the aspects you are discontent with and angry about. Some people might spout the old adage, “If you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain.” That’s incorrect. You can complain any time you want.

It saddens me that we are fighting each other. I am glad I get to vote. I have a thought-through basis of the votes I intend to cast. But I don’t assume everyone wants to vote like me. I hope they don’t. What I do hope is that everyone thinks through their own basis without regurgitating what they have surrounded themselves with on comfortable, affirming social media and friends. Listen to others. Engage with others, especially people who are different than you. Why are we so angry? Is it insecurities? Are we that afraid of differences? Are we that fearful that life will be uncomfortable?

If Trump wins, we’ll have issues.

If Biden wins, we’ll have issues.

No matter what political party wins a majority—nationally, statewide, and in your communities—we will not be able to rely on politics to lead, legislate, and uphold morality and ethics. There will still be conflicts. There will still be disagreements. There will still be rebellion.

But what if each of us takes responsibility in how well we live, including how we see and respond and listen to people who think, look, or live differently than we do? Not that we have to agree with everyone, but what about compassion? What about humility? What about truth?

Are we seeing compassion and humility and honesty in our leaders? Well…

Are we responding with compassion and humility and honesty? Are we living with sound character is our everyday lives as we interact with others and expand our circles?

We matter. You matter. Your act of voting matters. And the way you converse with others in the coming weeks leading up to the election as well as after the election and into the next administration matters. No matter what the results.

Your character is revealed whether you get your way or not. The process reveals much more than the result.