Wow, after 16 months of campaigning the 2016 presidential election is finally over. When I listen to the voices of people around me, I hear fear and excitement; I hear sadness and happiness; I hear concern and hope. The feeling you have depends on your personal beliefs, who you voted for and what you want for the future.
Although this election cycle provided us with many ups and downs, the current question may be where we go from here. Like it or not, Donald Trump will be our next president. Now it is time for us to come together as a country and try to work out our differences. How are we going to do this? I have four words that may help.
Compassion – No matter what side of the political spectrum we fall on, we have to have compassion. That means we can’t rub in the fact that the candidate they supported lost. That means we can’t call others stupid for whom they voted for. We can’t attack one another because we have different belief systems. If we want to call ourselves inclusive, we have to be inclusive. That doesn’t mean we have to agree with one another all of the time. I bet that most people have more in common than what separates them. We have to listen to one another, understand why others are hurting and comfort them. No one should be afraid to be a woman, a member of the LGBTQ community, a member of a particular religion or from a different part of the world.
Civility–When I was growing up, my mother always told me to follow the Golden Rule. That rule simply stated is–“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, treat people the way you want to be treated. This means you have to be respectful and courteous. If you wouldn’t want someone doing it to you, don’t do it to them. If you wouldn’t say something to someone in person, don’t say it on social media. Consider the effects of your words and actions before you say or do them. The world has become a place that seems to believe “Do unto others before they do it to you.” We must be better than that. We have to be better than that. We are better than that.
Diversity–We are all enriched when we live with, work with, go to school with and interact with people who are different than we are. I have heard it said many times that Maine is the whitest state in the union and we are not diverse. It is true that northern Maine is not very diverse racially, but this cannot be the only area we use to discover the richness of diversity. This election has shown us the diversity in our population: we are conservative, we are liberal, we are LGBTQ, we are Hispanic, we are white, we are black, we are French, we are English, we are for gun control, we are for the Second Amendment, but most of all we are AMERICAN.
Activist–We must all stand up for what we believe in. In the USA, we have the right to free speech within certain limits, we have the right to assembly peaceably and we have a duty to help others. As you read this, I must ask that you remember the three words listed above. Standing up for your beliefs is important, but if you forget the items above, you are just pushing your agenda to the detriment of others.
The future is an unknown. No one individual controls all of our lives. It is up to all of us, working together, to make the world a better place.
Perhaps I am being an optimist, but I refuse to be the opposite. I hope all of you will join me. Find common ground, look for strength in our differences and build a better place. If we segregate ourselves based on how we voted or on our belief systems, we are all lost. We must build a community: one that is stronger than anyone can imagine, where we all show compassion for one another, where we treat everyone civilly, where we respect one another’s diverse traits and where we can support and promote our beliefs without fear of reprisal.
