My blog…it’s my little corner of the internet where I express myself. Usually, it’s my creativity that gets expressed through one kind of a project or another. That is also the reason why most of you read my blog, or at least that’s what my blog stats seem to prove. My blog has also become my online scrapbook, a place where I can share thoughts and pictures of the happenings of my home and marriage. That part of my blog is like a treasure to me. I hope that someday my future children can look back at this blog and really get a sense of the love that Matt and I share in these early years of our marriage. I don’t get paid to write my blog and impress my readers, so once in a while, my blog also becomes a place where I can just journal my ideas, thoughts, feelings and opinions on the everyday events of my life. Today is one of those days…..
Like many of you, my thoughts today have been all about the elections that took place in our country yesterday. It’s hard to escape it really. I mean, it’s all around us. We live in a world of CNN, Facebook and Twitter. Even while I was in Target this morning, the conversations of the elections were all around me. In a nation that is divided so clearly as ours is, I still think that there a few things that we can all agree on when it comes to politics. And so that’s where my thoughts lead me today. What are some things that we can all agree on? Is it even possible? I think it is.
We may not all agree on political agendas, but I think that we can all agree on the following things: 1) Americans should educate themselves about political matters and vote. Yesterday, I posted about Election Day, and hoped that all eligible voters hit the polls no matter which side of the ballot they were voting for. I still stand by that. I wholeheartedly believe that as an American, the right to vote is a freedom that should not be taken for granted. I do, however, think that political matters should be taken seriously, and that voters should educate themselves before voting. People should know why they are voting for who they are voting for and have some conviction about it. 2) Agree to disagree. Not everyone is going to agree with everyone….or there would be no need for elections. I might see things one way, you might see things another way, and that’s ok. I might even be really passionate about why I believe what I believe. That doesn’t mean that it’s not ok for you to be passionate about what you believe. At the end of the day, the beauty of living in a free country is that we have the right to our own opinions, political or not, and we have the right to express those opinions. We certainly don’t have to argue and debate with everyone who doesn’t see eye to eye with us….unless of course you are a politician and that is your job. 3) Show some self control. I think in our world of social media, this one can often become difficult. At the end of the day, the bashing and name calling doesn’t do anyone any good. In fact, it’s more than likely just causing unnecessary strife. If you’re like me, you saw far too much of this on Facebook this year and were probably a little sick of it as the election neared. For that reason, I didn’t really express myself too much politically on social media, but that doesn’t mean that you were wrong if you did. Let me make it clear that I’m not saying that we shouldn’t express our beliefs and be proud of which ever political party we choose to side with. It’s a free country….let’s express….let’s be proud. I’m just saying, that perhaps we should have a little bit more grace about our expressions, and maybe go back to point number two by agreeing to disagree a little more often. And perhaps we should consider the appropriate time and place to express our political views. Just a side note.....Thanksgiving dinner is probably not the time to express those views...lol. Unless you happen to be part of a politically passionate family who sees eye to eye about everything. I guess, then it would be ok..lol. In my mind, I am seeing the typical American family throwing turkey legs across the table at this year's Thanksgiving dinner, and I'm thinkin' that's probably not a good thing. Yep, that should definitely be avoided. 4) There’s no need to be hyper-sensitive. Again, social media has made this one a little more difficult. It’s really hard to read someone’s post on Facebook and Twitter and not be offended by it….if we take it personally. So I say, don’t take other people’s political point of views personally. I think that sometimes all of us can read too much into other people’s comments, whether that be in casual conversation or in social media feeds. At the end of the day, a person’s political views are not a reason to rid them of your life. Ok, maybe that sentence was a little bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea. So to sum it up, where are some issues that we can we all agree about politics? Educate yourself about political views. Be passionate about those views. Feel free to express those views, while being courteous of other’s views. And lastly, don’t take other’s views too personally.
So now what? November 6, has come and gone….what now? Well, what’s done is done. Not everyone is going to be happy with the outcome. It’s quite natural to be sad if your candidate didn’t win. I’ll be quite honest with you….I’m one of the sad ones. I woke up to the results this morning and was really sad….maybe even a little mad if I’m honest. Hey, I’m human, and my first reaction was, “Really, how did that happen?” On an election that was likely to be determined by economic views, I was a little stunned with the results this morning. Certainly, there were some moral issues on the line that more than concerned me, and as I have been open about my Christianity on my blog, it shouldn’t shock anyone that I would have those concerns. Regardless of moral or religious issues, I really thought that the outcome would have been different based upon economics. It is my opinion that the outcome of this election is not a good direction for the economy. It is my opinion that it is one more step towards a socialist society. Now, now…before that thought runs through your head, remember that this is my opinion, and that it is ok for me to politely express that opinion here on my blog. I know that when I heard the results of the elections I also expressed my opinion, in a much more detailed and lengthy way, on my Facebook status this morning. I't s a given that opinions are gonna be flying left and right the morning after an election. What I didn't do was name call or bash others for not believing like me. You don’t have to agree with my opinion. Perhaps you are someone who would be really sad if the other candidate would have won, and I say that’s ok. If we really believe in what we say we believe in, then I think it’s quite natural to be sad that our candidate didn’t win….especially when this Presidential race, I think both sides would agree, was a turning point for our nation. Having said all of that, the reality is that it’s November 7 now, and the people have spoken. So now what? Well, he’s still my President. I may not agree with him, but I believe that it is my duty as a citizen and a Christian to respect him and pray for him as he takes on the enormous responsibility of leading a nation.
That pretty much sums up my thoughts today. I debated in my mind, as I usually do when writing posts this personal, whether to even blog about this topic. The last thing that I wanted was to have my blog be some sort of political platform, which is why I haven’t written any political posts as the election neared. But when it came down to it, I decided that this was my blog…my corner of the internet….my place to express my views. And when I really thought about it, I do desire to have my future children someday look back at my blog, come across this journal entry and see that I am not afraid to be proud to have conviction and passion about issues that I think really matter in our country. Now that doesn’t mean that I am looking for all of your comments and opinions on this post. Please, I’m not looking for a debate….this is my place to express myself, so be respectful of that. The debates have come and gone. What’s done is done. The elections are over, and let’s leave it that. In fact, I’d be thrilled if no one commented on this journal entry. The last thing I want is for an anonymous commenter to pipe in and be rude…because let’s face it, most of the time it’s the anonymous commenters who are rude. I think my fellow bloggers would agree with that. This has nothing to do with politics, but every time I get an anonymous comment on my blog I know that it’s going to be a critical comment. Back to the issue though….at the end of the day, it’s all about learning to be civil while still having convictions, and that’s what I hope readers take away from this post.
